Destiny of A Few
by TheWildVortex
Summary: In Beacon Academy, twelve young huntsmen and huntresses in training find themselves locked into a war with forces they cannot hope to defeat. Their pasts will be revealed, their stories will unfold, and their friendships will be tested. However, their destiny is yet to be decided.
1. Chapter 1: Where Every Journey Begins

**Chapter 1: Where Every Journey Begins**

"Hey!"

Brand knocked on the door once more. He was at a small village near Vale surrounded by the thick brush of trees. The land was a lush green color with fields of grass mixing in with the gray concrete.

"We made a deal, remember?! Are you even home?"

Brand gripped the blue travel pack on his shoulder tightly. He had gone through a lot to get these artifacts and now wanted his payment. Unfortunately, it appeared that the small wooden house in front of him was empty. The windows had curtains preventing anyone from looking inside and both the front and back door were locked. Brand was skeptical at first when he had made the deal with this unknown huntsman but was certain that the reward was worth it.

Knocking one last time, Brand was prepared to take down the door. Suddenly, he heard someone unlock the it from the inside. A pale hand reached out with his body still being concealed inside.

"So you have it?" The man inside asked.

"All in one piece too. Can't say the same about the temple though." Brand held the bag out but not all the way. "Show me first."

The man chuckled. "You're smarter than you look." His hand went back inside.

Brand heard footsteps within the house. The huntsman held out a brown envelope.

"Everything you need for Beacon. Rest assured that you've been registered as a student."

Brand put the bag on the ground and retrieved the envelope. Checking inside, he found that all the information he had given had been processed.

"The ship leaves tomorrow morning at 8."

Brand narrowed his eyebrows. "And you're sure I can get in without any complications?"

"As I said, I was able to register you as a regular student. They won't know the difference."

"And my qualifications? I haven't completed combat school."

"I don't think they'd question you, especially with your stature."

"But I basically skipped-"

"You were the one who wanted this, weren't you? If you think you have what it takes to survive Beacon Academy, then go for it! Nothing's stopping you."

Brand nodded. "Thanks. I guess these are yours now."

He took out the chess pieces one by one and placed them on the floor as each one was taken indoors by the huntsman.

"I give you my gratitude for recovering these relics. Good luck in Beacon," The huntsman said.

Brand closed his backpack and hung it around his shoulder as he walked away from the house. He heard the door close behind him. Staring at the envelope, he made his way onto the path to Vale. Beacon Academy, undeniably the best huntsman school in Remnant. Now he was going to be part of it. Brand held his head high.

 _'Time to see what I'm made of…'_

* * *

The landing pad of Vale was cluttered with students looking forward to attending Beacon Academy. A large ship was docked at the side of the cliff, ready to take all the boys and girls to their new school. Now, Brand was one of them. He smiled as he walked through the countless number of teenagers and of course he avoided eye contact. He was never really good in a crowd. Brand sighed and donned his dark blue earphones, deciding to play his favorite playlist on his scroll.

He was used to it. All his life, anyone who'd try to be friends with him eventually stopped. Well, it's not like he made any effort to keep them. Brand always preferred the isolation. He glanced at the people at his right. They were smiling and at the same time shedding a tear while saying goodbye to their families. Of course, this is what people have to go through when they leave their families.

Brand paused and contemplated his family back at Patch.

 _'No. Not now... now you focus on becoming a huntsman.'_

The young man closed his eyes before entering the large vessel.

* * *

Sable and Melano sat on a bench near the walkway of the docking area. Melo checked his watch and turned to his friend.

"Shouldn't we board the ship already?"

"Mhm…" Sable was busy reading the book he always reads.

"Are you reading that book again?" Melano looked at the cover. Damn it, it was another one of his adult novels. Sable had always loved reading smut ever since they met in Vacuo. The girls in the orphanage always considered him a pervert but he never showed any signs of being one, besides reading this.

"Mmm…" Sable still wasn't listening.

"You know you're reading an erotic fantasy novel in public, right?"

"Ahhh…" Sable closed his book and put his arms behind his neck. "I'm hungry, Melo," he complained.

"I don't even want to know how you got hungry from reading that. Besides, we already ate breakfast."

"How 'bout breakfast part two?"

"You're going to become overweight by the time we graduate," Melo replied, rubbing his temples in irritation.

"Eh, I exercise regularly."

"Yeah, right." Melo stood up and stretched his arms. "Still, we better get onboard if we want decent seats."

It's been like this for over a year. Melano had met Sable when he arrived at the orphanage. In fact, Sable was the first one to speak to him. At first, something seemed off about the archer. Melo had heard that Sable had just lost someone close to him so it was understandable if he was on edge. However, the more they talked, the better friends they became. After a while, Melo found himself in charge of his friend's behavior, keeping Sable's actions in control.

"Ooh! I want the window seat!" Sable said.

Melo smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Aurum made his way to the ship's gate with a huge bag on his back and a scroll in his hand. He was scanning through the messages sent from Atlas. Nothing much, just a few reminders before he went to Beacon. Sliding his finger across the screen, he came across a photo of his squad. Aurum smiled. Rubbing his thumb across the scroll, he looked at Dawn's face. He won't let what happened to her happen again. The golden haired boy closed the scroll and took a moment to scan his surroundings.

 _'He's still not here? Maybe he went inside the ship already.'_

He then spotted a familiar face.

"Well if it isn't Meroch!" Aurum approached the teenager wearing a black trench coat. "Still have Ace clinging onto you, I see."

A small face peeked out from behind Meroch. Acerbus was holding onto his back and staring at Aurum.

"It's been a while." Meroch said. "I haven't seen you since you became part of that hit squad."

Aurum chuckled. "It's more of a special operations team than an assassin's guild."

Meroch smiled. "I'm guessing you're going to Beacon as well?"

"No, I'm going to Shade," Aurum said sarcastically. "There's a ton of sunscreen in my backpack."

"Still the same as always…"

Aurum grinned and looked behind Meroch. Ace hid back. "Well good morning to you too, Ace. She still not comfortable around me?"

"Aurum, nobody is comfortable around you."

"I guess so." Aurum checked his scroll. "Well! I'm going aboard the ship. See you at Beacon then."

"Hold on! Why are you even going to Beacon? I thought you preferred Atlas."

Aurum grinned. "That, my friend, is classified information."

"Of course. This is some sort of covert operation."

And with wink, Aurum left.

Meroch waved as his friend walked away.

"You know, you really need to learn how to talk for yourself." Meroch pulled Ace out from behind him.

"I don't want to," she softly said.

"Why not? We're going to a huntsman academy now, Ace. There's no guarantee that I'll always be with you." Meroch was right. All her life, Ace has let him do the talking for her.

"Right, but you'll try, right? To stay by my side?"

Meroch sighed. "Fine… but no promises."

Ace smiled and hugged his arm.

* * *

"There we go…" Ruben retrieved his drone from the air and placed it into a suitcase.

"Did you really have to take pictures?" Avery was standing beside him, looking at the view in front of them. Beacon was separated from Vale via a large valley so the scenery was beautiful.

"Of course. We Crimsons have learned to always immortalize our greatest accomplishments so that we may- AAARRGH!"

Avery karate chopped his head. "Stop talking like a rich douchebag already."

Ruben rubbed his head. "But I am rich…"

"Oh, so you are a rich douchebag?"

"Yea- wait! No!"

Avery broke down in laughter. She loved insulting Ruben all the time. Breaking down his pride was one of her favorite hobbies.

"Why'd I even bring you along?" Ruben said.

"Oh come on! Don't be like that!" Avery pushed Ruben towards the cliff. "Look! There's Beacon! Our new home for the next four years. As well as a new school. We get to meet new people! Isn't that exciting?!"

"I guess… I just hope they all aren't idiots."

"Hey!" Avery punched his arm. "Be nice to others for once!"

"Whatever you say, Aves…" Ruben grabbed his scroll and positioned himself beside his friend. "Smile!"

* * *

Harmon made his way across the platform with his brown luggage in hand. Looking at a brochure, he compared the picture of Beacon to the actual thing. It was much more impressive in person, the waterfalls were especially astounding. He smiled and made his way towards the ship.

"IIII'M LAAAAATEEE!" A voice rang out behind him.

Before Harmon could turn around to see who had shouted, he was knocked face first onto the ground. Rubbing his head, he got a good look at his attacker. It was a white haired boy with a square slice of cheese in his mouth. Even more, he was a faunus with a large bushy tail behind him.

"Uh… Hi! I'm Mond!" He swallowed his cheese whole with a large grin.

 _'He's too enthusiastic about this…'_ Harmon thought.

"Harmon… and please watch where you're going." Harmon stood up and brushed his shoulders with his hands. "If you keep this up, people wi-"

"I like your weapon!" Mond interrupted. He dashed over to Harmon's back and glared at Relentless Harmony. "Touch."

"Hey! Back off!" Harmon quickly turned around. "Didn't you say you were late or something?"

Mond's eyes widened. "Right! I'm late for school!"

Harmon sighed. "The ship doesn't leave for another twenty minutes."

"Huh? Then why was I in a hurry…"

"Mond!" Another voice echoed through the platform. A man with dark red hair and a yellow T-shirt came running onto the landing pad.

"Oh right, Sora." Mond pulled out another slice of cheese from his pocket and put it in his mouth. "Gotta go! Nice meeting you, Hormone!"

"It's Harmon!" Harmon corrected but the squirrel faunus had already dashed away. There are certainly some weird ones in every batch. Meanwhile, the same man Mond called Sora stopped in front of the pianist, breathing heavily.

"Hey, you were talking to that faunus kid right?" Sora asked.

"Uh, yeah but…"

"Can you give this to him?" Sora pulled out a large, gray knapsack. "It's his stuff. He forgot it at my store."

"Uh I'm not actually acquainted-"

"Also, remind him that I run a store, NOT a charity!"

"Well, sir-"

"Yeah! Thanks, buddy!" Sora patted Harmon on the back and left.

 _'This year's starting off with a bang then.'_

Harmon looked at the huge metal vessel.

 _'Mond had probably gone inside already, might as well board the ship.'_

* * *

Brand found a nice seat facing the city of Vale. He gazed out, getting more and more lost in his thoughts.

 **"WE WILL BE DEPARTING IN FIVE MINUTES. ALL STUDENTS PLEASE FIND A SEAT OR A RAIL TO HOLD ONTO DURING TAKE OFF. THANK YOU."**

 _'This is it. My new life begins.'_

* * *

The locks holding the vessel to the landing pad lifted. The entire ship slowly rose up from the chasm.

"Crap!" A boy with a gray scarf known as Grei Schimmel ran towards the departing ship. At this rate, he wouldn't make it. Flicking out the weapons on his arms, he fired a shot to the ground. Grei was immediately thrown into the sky where he activated his semblance. Floating in mid-air, he fired more shots behind him until he landed on top of the flying vessel.

"Ha! that was a close one…" Grei exhaled. "…uh. How do I get inside?"

* * *

"I spy something blue." Sable said.

Melo sighed. "The sky?"

"Nope. The lake." Sable pointed at the body of water far below them. "Man, you suck at this."

"You're clues are extremely vague."

"What are you talking about? Okay! I spy something black!"

Melo got up. "I'm going to walk around…"

"Aw, don't leave, sore loser." Sable chuckled. "In that case, I'll follow."

"That is the most idiotic idea I have ever heard." Ruben patted Avery on the head whilst gazing out the window.

"I'm just brainstorming for you, you know? I mean, going around in a flying would be pretty cool."

"Avery, Avery, Avery… where is the value in that? I don't just make things because I think they're 'cool'. I invent because I want to better society." Ruben raised his arms to the view of Vale beneath them. "I want this world to benefit from what I create."

"You mean like the rocket boots?" Avery smiled.

"They are not rocket boots! They're high propulsion… oh forget it. You already ruined the moment."

"Aw, is Ruben down already?" Avery playfully pushed him.

"Hey. Stop that. Or I might-" with one swift push, Ruben sent Avery back. She would've fallen onto the ground if it wasn't for a brown suited boy. The book he was reading fell under him. She sat on top of the student's body for a second before realizing what had happened and got up.

"I'm so sorry! It's this idiot's fault…" Avery pointed at Ruben.

* * *

Sable reached out from beneath him. The cover of his book was folded and twisted. All because some clumsy girl knocked him over…

"You know, I really hate couples…" Sable got up and gave the two a frightful stare. "Always making mistakes and blaming it on 'love'."

"We-we're not…" Avery began stuttering. After all, how could she not? Sable had a bloodshot look on his face. Ruben noticed Avery's situation and stepped in between them.

"Hey, dude. She said sorry. I'm sorry for using too much force as well." Ruben said as Avery pouted.

"'Yeah, I stopped caring a second ago." Sable put the ruined book inside his coat.

"What's your problem?!" Ruben reached for his weapon.

Sable laughed. His eyes widened as much as his grin. "Well right now I'm looking at two of 'em."

"Someone ought to teach you some manners."

"Sable!" Before Ruben could pull out his weapon, Melo dashed right in.

"Ah, Melo!"

"I am so sorry if this guy caused you any trouble." Melo apologized to Ruben.

"Hey, I didn't start-."

"No, Sable. We talked about this… let's just go, alright?"

Sable looked at his friend and sighed. "Fine."

Then two started walking without looking back.

"Oh by the way. Here." Sable took out the ruined book from his pocket and handed it to Melo. "It's yours."

"I don't want it." Melo said.

"Hm?" Sable had pulled out another pristine copy of the same book from his pocket and started reading.

* * *

Avery watched the scary boy leave with his friend. She also hadn't realized she had been clinging to Ruben's arm. She let go immediately.

"Well, I'm glad that's over. The nerve of that imbecile, huh?" Ruben said.

"That was terrifying… for a moment I thought I was a goner."

"Don't worry, you can always count on me to save your butt…" Ruben felt a punch enter his stomach. He dropped down on the ground.

"Stop that attitude of yours! Just you wait and see, I'll be the one rescuing you."

* * *

Brand glanced out of the window.

 _'Huh, you could see Patch from here…'_ he thought to himself.

He turned his head back inside and leaned forward, face staring at the floor. Brand sat there in the comfort of his music for a while before someone dashed right past him, pulling his earphones out along the way. Brand scratched his ears and saw that they were on the floor.

"Oh! I can't believe my baby sister's going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

Brand looked to his left and found a blonde girl hugging a much shorter girl in a black and red dress. In fact, Brand thought the blonde was crushing the red one to death.

"Pleash shtop." The red girl said.

"I'm soooo proud of youuu!"

Brand picked up his earphones and headed elsewhere. He never liked to get involved in other people's business and he had a bad habit of eavesdropping. Brand continued his walk across the ship until a boy with white hair hung down from the ceiling.

"Hi! I'm Mond!" The boy said.

Brand noticed that Mond was hanging on a bar using his legs and a big bushy tail.

"Uh…"

"Hey, are those earphones?! You like music?!" Mond pointed at the earphones in Brand's hand. "I like music too… although it's mostly pirate songs. Ahoy!"

"Okay…" Brand just wanted to get out of there.

"Aw! That's not fair!" Mond yelled.

"W-what's not fair?"

"I told you my name but you didn't tell me yours!"

"It's Brand..."

"Oh! What brand of name?!"

"No, that's my name…" Brand said. _'Is this guy an idiot?'_

Mond paused with his fingers on his chin. He flipped onto the ground and landed with a crouch. "Oooooohhhhh! Braaaaand…"

 _'Need to get away, need to get away…'_ Brand was sweating.

"So what brings you to Bacon, Brand?" Mond asked.

 _'Finally… a normal que- wait…'_

"Bacon?" Brand said. "Don't you mean Beacon?"

Mond nodded his head side wards. "No. Bacon Academy, where you learn to become a skilled master in the art of cooking!"

"Uh, we're going to Beacon. You know? The huntsman school."

"Huntsman, wait…" Mond's eyes widened as he banged his fists on the window. "Oh yeah!"

Brand looked around. This squirrel boy had definitely caused a scene since he caught the attention of everyone around him.

"Hey!" A boy with a tie came up to Mond with a gray bag in his hand. "This yours?"

* * *

"Huh?" Mond looked at the bag. "Oh! Yeah! No wonder my back was feeling lighter than usual, thanks Hormone!"

"Harmon! But you… almost remembered my name?" Harmon was caught off guard with this.

"Well durr, how can I recognize you next time we meet if I don't remember your name?"

"Uh…" Harmon smiled. "Anyway, please remember to check if your belongings are still with you before you leave anywhere."

"Oh, okay! Thanks Hor- I mean Harmon!" Mond smiled and looked around. "Huh, where's Brand?"

* * *

Meroch and Ace made their way towards a window and watched Beacon get closer and closer.

"We're almost there." Ace said softly.

"Yeah, it should be a brand new experience. Maybe you'll actually socialize for once." Meroch nudged his friend.

"I don't need to socialize. I have…"

 **"THE ROBBERY WAS LED BY THE NEFARIOUS CRIMINAL, ROMAN TORCHWICK WHO STILL CONTINUES TO EVADE AUTHORITIES."**

The hologram on their left interrupted Ace. It was playing a local news show. Pictures of an orange haired man showed up onscreen. He was holding up a rectangular cardboard with his prisoner number printed on the front.

 **"IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON HIS WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE VALE POLICE DEPARTMENT. BACK TO YOU LISA."**

"Huh, robberies in Vale… you didn't have anything to do with it, right?" Meroch gave Ace a look.

"I don't remember seeing that guy when I-" Ace quickly shut her mouth.

"Okay, we're going to have a talk."

 **"Thank you, Cyril."** A woman with lavender hair appeared on the screen with the caption: 'Lisa Lavender' below her. **"In other news…"**

* * *

 **"…this Saturday's faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has also been spotted-"** the feed was immediately cut.

"Aw…" Aurum sighed. _'It would've been nice to know of the White Fang's activities here in Vale. After all, those good-for-nothing thugs are in for some serious payback.'_

Suddenly, a blond woman with glasses replaced the television broadcast. She was wearing a simple dress and a purple cape.

 **"Hello and welcome to Beacon…"**

* * *

 **"…my name is Glynda Goodwitch."**

Brand glanced at the woman. She definitely looked like a serious staff member of Beacon.

 **"You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy."**

He snickered a little.

* * *

 **"Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace. And as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it."**

Ruben and Avery glanced at each other.

* * *

" **You have demonstrated the courage for such a task..."**

Mond and Harmon both watched the video with a smile.

* * *

 **"…and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world**." The hologram then faded away.

"Eh…" Sable pushed his glasses up. "Six out of ten. Could've used more plot."

Melo held his face. "That wasn't a movie, Sable."

"Whatever." Sable sat back down and turned a page.

* * *

"C-c-coooold…" Grei sat on the roof with his hands holding the sides of his arms. He tried to look ahead even if the wind was blowing against his face. He could see a green, castle-like structure standing on top of a cliff overlooking the bright blue lake below.

 _'Beacon… it's more impressive than I thought it would be.'_ Another gust of wind hit Grei. "Cooooold!"

* * *

Once the ship landed, Aurum made his way out alongside the other students. However, a blond haired boy bumped past him and headed for the trash can outside.

"Hey, you alright?"

The boy didn't reply. Instead, he started throwing up into the trash can.

"Okay, then…" Aurum decided to leave him alone. He then spotted a gray figure jump down from the top of the ship. He started walking while shivering.

 _'Target is in sight.'_ Aurum followed the gray student.

* * *

"Alright, Mond! I'm afraid this is where we part." Harmon told his newfound friend.

"Awww, but what if I get lost?" Mond tried to make his best puppy face.

"The orientation should be in that giant dome ahead. And if you do…" Harmon pointed at Mond's hands. "…just climb."

"Oh, okay then! See you around Harmie!" Mond cheerfully skipped away.

"Thank god." Harmon breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he isn't fond of disorderly people. If only they could be more like…

"Harmon?"

Harmon heard a girl's voice from behind him. Turning around, he found a girl in a white dress standing behind him.

"Ah, Ms. Schnee. I was told you would be attending this academy."

"Please, you can call me Weiss." She said. "How have you been? What brings you to Beacon?"

Harmon smiled. He had met Weiss Schnee before through their numerous concerts together. Out of all the singers he had worked with, she was the only one who bothered to talk to him.

"I've been excellent. Thanks for asking. As for Beacon, well…" Harmon stopped mid-sentence.

"Huh? What is it?" Weiss turned around to find a squirrel faunus staring at her.

"Who are you?"

"Mond?! I thought I told you go ahead?!" Harmon yelled.

"Who's this?" Mond's voice sounded like he was in a trance.

"Is this a friend of yours?" Weiss asked. Harmon didn't reply. Sighing, she spoke up. "If you must know, I am Weiss Schnee and I demand that you stop staring at me like that!"

"Weiss…"

"Okay, I'll take my leave then. Talk to you later, Harmon!" Weiss waved as men in suits pushed a trolley of white luggage behind her.

"Yeah…" Harmon said.

"She's pretty." Mond suddenly appeared at Harmon's side.

"Why are you here?" Harmon asked.

"I got lost so I came back here."

Harmon sighed. "Fine. I'll take you to orientation."

"Yay!"

* * *

A figure with an orange beanie walked across Beacon's main garden. He gazed at the number of students exiting the large vessel.

"Heh…" He smirked, fiddling with strings in his right hand. "…a bunch of new kids."

* * *

Brand's mouth was wide open as he stared at the huge academy before him.

 _'So this is Beacon Academy, huh?'_

Gray brick paths led towards a bunch of white pillars circling the school. A tall, castle-like structure stood at the center with a single tower being higher than the rest. Brand smiled. It's been a while since he experienced this sort of awe. For him, this was a new sight to behold.

Brand continued his walk with his earphones still tightly tucked into his ears. The gardens that lined the path definitely added to the beauty. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a girl in a white dress overlooking another girl in a…

 _'Wait…'_

Brand turned to see the same girl he saw on the ship lying on the ground, surrounded by white luggage that matched the color of the other girl who appeared to be yelling. Brand couldn't hear their conversation through the music.

 _'Meh. Whatever it is, it's not my problem…'_

Then, something changed Brand's mind. The white haired girl grabbed one of her luggage and held out a fire dust capsule. She started shaking it in front of the red dressed girl. Brand remembered what he had learned about dust. Shaking it loosens the particles, making the dust highly combustible. All it needed was something to ignite it.

 _'But there isn't anything right?'_

The red girl then held her head back while opening her mouth.

 _'Wait… is she gonna…'_

Without hesitation, Brand jumped in the way as the girl in red let out a sneeze, igniting the dust and creating a fiery explosion. Luckily, Brand managed to push both of them out of the way in time. Flames blew past Brand as he stood in place. Once the fire died down, he found himself in the middle of a small crater.

"ACH!" Brand coughed out a puff of smoke as his body glowed blue.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Brand heard a voice from behind. It was the girl in white.

"I'm really sorry…" the red girl said while touching her fingers together.

 _'Wait… how can I hear them?'_

Brand reached for his earphones but only grasped at ashes. "No…"

"Ugh! You complete dolt! If it wasn't for this kind young man, we would have been burnt to a crisp!" Their argument continued. "Aren't you too young to be attending Beacon?!"

"Well, I…"

Brand just stared at the ashes in his hands.

"My earphones…"

* * *

"Hey, Melo. Check it out." Sable pointed at the scene nearby. Two girls in dresses were arguing while some guy in a blue outfit was standing in a crater staring at his hands. "Day one and I already like this place."

Melo rolled his eyes. "You have a special appreciation for chaos, don't you?"

Sable chuckled. "I just love it when things go wrong for others. It's always so funny!"

"What if something goes wrong with you?"

Sable patted his friend on the back. Well, it was more of a slap. "Then I'll just have to kill it."

Melo sighed. Checking back on the two girls, it seemed like another one had joined them. This time, she was wearing black and white.

* * *

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Brand turned around to find that another girl had joined in. The first thing he noticed about her was the black bow on top of her head.

"Finally! Some recognition!" Weiss said.

"…the same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and its questionable business partners." The black haired girl continued.

"What?! How… dare! The… nerve of…!" Weiss started to stutter as the girl in red giggled. She then took her remaining bags and left. Men in suits transferred the other luggage from the ground to a trolley and followed the heiress.

 _'Okay! Time to make my escape!'_ Brand thought as he attempted to climb out of the crater.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" the red girl yelled. "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day…"

"So what's… uh…" She looked to her right to see that the black haired girl had started walking away. Looking to her left, she found the boy who had saved her earlier climbing out of the crater. "Hey!"

"Ah!" Brand got startled and tripped back inside. He landed with his back on the ground.

"Oh! Sorry! Here, let me…" the red head held out her hand.

"Uh, thanks…"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose!" She smiled.

"Brand." He grabbed ahold of her hand as she attempted to pull him up. Unfortunately, Brand's foot carved off a piece of concrete, shifting their weight and pulling her down as well.

Ruby scratched her head as she tried lifting herself up. "Oww… you're much heavier than you look."

Brand opened his eyes to see that his face was inches away from Ruby's.

"Uh! Can you get off me, please?!" Brand closed his eyes.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby quickly got off of him and sat on the broken concrete beside him.

"Welcome to Beacon, I guess…" Ruby giggled.

Brand smiled as a shadow loomed over them.

"Hey." A blonde boy in white armor was holding his hand out to them. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." Ruby replied.

"Brand."

Jaune helped Ruby up, followed by Brand which took a little more effort.

"Whoa, you're tall!" Jaune said as Brand's height overtook his.

"Heh…" Blue scratched his neck.

Ruby then giggled. "Hey. Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

* * *

Aurum briskly walked through the crowd. Looking ahead, he spotted his target.

 _'Still in sight.'_

Grei was walking a few feet ahead of him holding a brochure in his hand. He had no idea that Aurum was tailing him. Grei Schimmel. This was the guy responsible for creating a gravity sinkhole in the middle of their operation in Vacuo. Luckily the gravitational force didn't reach unstable levels and the rest of Aurum's squad managed to get out alive… but not all of them.

A flash of yellow caught Aurum's eyes. Looking to his right, he spotted a yellow haired girl beside him.

"Dawn?" Aurum stopped in his tracks.

The girl looked at him. "Huh?"

She had purple eyes and a different face. It wasn't Dawn…

"Oh, uh… sorry. I thought you were someone else." Aurum said nervously.

"Oh, alright."

"Yang! Come on! You need a good spot for you and your sister!" A female voice called out.

"Yeah! I'm coming!" The blonde replied. "I hope you find who you were looking for."

She then darted towards her friends leaving a stunned Aurum behind.

 _'Damn it…'_ Aurum curled his right hand into a fist. _'She's dead. There's no changing that… just focus on the task at hand…'_

Looking around, he realized that he lost Grei. Aurum just sighed and walked towards the stadium.

* * *

A dark red drone flew through the air swiftly as Ruben looked at the camera feed on his controller.

"This campus is huge!" Avery peeked at her friend's gadget.

"Yeah…" Ruben pressed a few buttons and zoomed in on a circular podium.

"Ah! There we go! Seems orientation is exactly… that way!" He said, pointing at the direction of the stadium.

"Let's go!" Avery put her fist into the air and smiled.

"Huh?" Suddenly, Ruben's screen went black. "What's with…"

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I just lost the signal…"

"Hey! This yours?" A man in an orange beanie and a black and white shirt walked up to them with the drone in his hand, which was tied up in strings. "This supposed to be one of those fancy new gadgets from Atlas?"

"Oh no! Notanotherscaryguy!" Avery quickly stepped back.

"That's mine, not Atlas'. And I'll have you know that you'll be replacing the damaged parts-"

"Yadda yadda yadda!" The man threw the drone at Ruben who caught it. "Look, kid. If you're going to stay here at Beacon, don't show off your toys. It… tempts the troublemakers."

He turned around, chuckling.

"Name's Malkaush Aprikose by the way! Remember it." Malkaush said while winking at Avery.

"I'm starting to think everyone here is a huge prick." Ruben grunted as he examined his drone.

"Maybe we're just meeting the bad ones. I'm sure there are nicer people inside!" Avery said with a smile.

"Woah. Look at Miss Positive today."

"Hey!" Avery slapped Ruben on the back. "I haven't lost hope yet!"

* * *

Meroch and Ace walked along the pathway towards the stadium.

"Quite the crowd, huh?" Meroch said.

"Yeah…" Ace spotted a few faunus making their way to orientation as well. This was definitely not Atlas anymore. Here, faunus were accepted... well, more along the lines of tolerated.

"The campus is also more colorful than Atlas'," Meroch continued as Ace stayed silent. "Something on your mind?"

Ace shook her head. _'Hopefully there aren't that many scumbags here.'_

* * *

Brand followed Ruby and Jaune down a path.

"All I'm saying is that motion sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune said.

Ruby giggled. "Look, I'm sorry. Vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind…"

Brand listened on to their conversation. It wasn't like he had any plans on joining in. He just stared at the cord in his hand that was once his earphones.

"Oh yeah? What if I called you crater-face?"

"Hey that explosion was an accident!" Ruby fought back. "Besides! I'm not the one you should be calling crater-face."

At that moment the two stopped in their tracks and looked at Brand who just stared back blankly.

"What?" he asked.

"We've been walking for around five minutes and you still haven't said a word," Jaune said.

"Is that bad?"

"Of course not!" Ruby smiled. "You're more of the silent type, right? Well, it's about time you open up to others!"

Brand did not like where this was going.

"Oh, what's that?" Ruby pointed at the burnt off cord in Brand's hand.

"Oh! It's nothing! Just my earphones. They were caught in the blast so-"

"OhMyGosh! I'm soooo sorry!" Ruby looked at the cord. The wires connected to both ear buds were completely seared off. "I'll make this up to you, I promise!"

"You don't need to…" Brand just trailed off.

"Soooo… let me introduce myself once more!" Jaune cleared his throat. "The name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. The ladies love it."

"Do they?" Ruby asked.

"They will!" Jaune raised his hands towards Ruby. "Well, I hope they will. I mean, my mom says that… uh, never mind."

Ruby and Brand just stared at the awkwardness.

"So, I got this thing." Ruby pulled a red object from her back that instantly folded out into a giant scythe. The tip of the blade hit the ground, cracking it with its weight.

"Woah!" Brand rushed over to look at the weapon. "Is that a scythe?!"

"It's also a customizable high impact sniper rifle." Ruby grinned.

"A what?" Jaune said in confusion.

"It's also a gun."

Brand stroked the edge of the blade. "This must be heavy to use in battle..."

"Not actually. All you pretty much have to do is use the-"

"Momentum?!" Brand finished before quickly facing Ruby.

"Yeah, look who has a sudden change of personality." Ruby said. "So what have you got?"

"Oh!" Brand reached to his sides and spun out the two parts of Cobalt Ravager. The blades instantly slid out. "Two dual-bladed axes with sawed off muzzles on the end for maximum spread shots."

"Oh, that's cool…" Jaune remarked.

"I can also put them together to make a double sided battle-axe!" Brand smiled as he put both ends together.

"Do the guns still work?" Ruby said in fascination.

"Of course!" Brand stopped and realized how much he had been saying. "Uh! How about you, Jaune? I bet your weapon beats ours."

Jaune suddenly had a sad look on his face.

"Uh, I got this sword…" He pulled out a regular looking sword from his sheath.

"Ooh…" Ruby said.

"Yeah, I've got a shield too." Jaune pulled out his sheath which then folded out into a shield. The shield itself was white and had his symbol on the surface engraved in yellow.

"What do they do?" Brand touched the shield.

"Woah!" Jaune's shield retracted and popped out again. Luckily, he caught the it. "Th-the shield gets smaller… so when I get tired of carrying it… I can just uh… put it away..."

"But wouldn't it weigh the same?" Brand asked.

"Yeah it does…" Jaune looked down.

"Well…" Ruby chuckled. "…I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons. I guess I did go a little overboard in designing mine."

"You made that?!" Jaune gasped.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons." Ruby explained. "Didn't you make yours?"

 _'She's from Signal?!'_ Brand's eyes widened.

"It's a hand-me-down. My great, great grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune said.

"Sounds like a family heirloom to me…" Ruby smiled. "…well I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune put back his sword and began walking again.

"So, Jaune. Why'd you help us out back there? In the courtyard." Ruby asked.

"Eh, why not? My mom always says that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Hm…"

 _'If she's from Signal… does she recognize me?'_ Brand was still processing his thoughts. _'No… can't be… although… she looks… wait. Where are we?'_

Looking around, Brand realized that there were no other freshmen around.

"Hey, guys?" Brand caught their attention. "Where are we going?"

Jaune scratched his head. "Uh, I don't know. I was following Ruby."

Ruby and Brand just stayed silent.

"You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court?" Jaune asked. "Some sort of… recognizable landmark?"

Ruby just started snickering along with Brand.

"Is uh… is that a no?"

"That's a no." Ruby answered.

* * *

Grei gazed at the interior of the stadium. A tall clock tower with four blue green circles stood high above a stage overlooking the entire podium. Crowds of people gathered around the stage awaiting the orientation.

Stretching his arms Grei exhaled. "Let's see… where to sit?"

Looking around, the gray haired boy realized that there were no chairs. "…or stand. Standing's fine."

Walking towards a good spot, a strange girl bumped into Grei. The boy stumbled back onto the floor with a small thud. _'Yeowch.'_

He looked up and noticed that the girl lent him her hand. He pulled himself up with a nearly inaudible thanks escaping his lips.

Grei took the time to look clearly at the stranger. She sported short orange hair that reached around her nape and clear blue eyes that gleamed with a sense of curiosity.

"Whoops! Sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly.

"Nora!" Another student had caught up with the girl. He was wearing a green uniform with lined laces. "You okay?" The second newcomer asked Grei with hint of worry.

Grei simply nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for helping me up." Grei tried putting on the best smile he had, which was pretty much a tiny one.

"Nora! You should stop with the reenactments!" the boy in the green uniform chided his friend.

"Aw… but, Ren! How will you understand the story if I don't demonstrate it to you?" the girl, Nora, complained.

"Maybe you should consider the fact that I was there?"

"Oh yeah..." Nora put her finger on her chin. She immediately turned her head towards the gray haired boy. "Oh yeah! I don't think we caught your name."

Grei blinked at the sudden outburst, but quickly composed himself afterwards. "Grei."

"I'm Ren. And the clumsy girl that bumped into you is Nora," Ren answered.

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't see him," Nora pouted.

"Well, it did look like you were busy." Grei grinned lightly at the two. It was nice to make friends on the first day.

* * *

"Oh great." Sable sighed. "More people…"

"It's not that bad." Melo said.

"Says the shut in."

"I'm pretty sure that's you."

"Whatever…" Sable put his book back into his pocket.

"Anyway, we should at least try to meet new people here."

"Don't care." Sable already had that bored look on his face. "They all look like black silhouettes to me. All unimportant."

Melo sighed. "This is going to be a long four years."

"Woooow!" Avery gasped at the amount of people crammed inside the stadium.

"Impressive. Beacon was a good choice after all," Ruben said. "Just look at all these students."

He suddenly stopped while scanning the area. "Great. She's here."

"Huh?" Avery followed his gaze and saw a girl with red hair and green eyes. "Oh! That's Pyrrha! We should say hi!"

Avery grabbed Ruben's arm and dragged him across the floor.

"Wait! Wait! Avery!" Ruben couldn't escape Avery's grip.

"Pyrrha! Long time no see!"

Pyrrha's eyes lit up. "Avery! You didn't tell me you were attending Beacon."

"Well, it was sort of a last minute decision."

Pyrrha smiled and looked at the grumpy guy beside her. "It's nice to see you too, Ruben."

Ruben just crossed his arms and looked away.

"Ow!" Ruben grunted as Avery elbowed him in the stomach.

"Be nice!" she whispered.

Ruben sighed before speaking. "Hi, Pyrrha…"

"Still jealous?" Pyrrha asked Avery.

"You bet!" Avery answered with a smile.

"Hey!" Ruben frowned once more as the ladies laughed on.

* * *

Aurum looked up as he entered the podium. Countless thoughts scattered across his head. However, right now, he didn't want to sort them out. He spotted Meroch and Ace entering through another pathway but still no sign of Grei.

 _'Huh… Beacon's more remarkable than I imagined.'_ Aurum thought to himself. _'I don't know if Atlas can compare to this school's aesthetic.'_

Of course, this was just the appearance. The quality of their education was yet to be judged.

* * *

"Guys! I think it's this way!" Brand waved over to Jaune and Ruby.

Together, the trio entered the large stadium.

"Ruby! Over here!" A yellow haired girl waved from the crowd. "I saved you a spot!"

Ruby saw her and turned to the boys. "Oh! Uh! Hey, I gotta go! I'll see you guys after the ceremony!"

"Hey wait! Ruby!" Brand tried to stop her but Ruby was already on her way to the blonde girl. He wanted to ask her about Signal. Well… guess that'll have to wait.

 _'Great. Now I'm alone again.'_

"Aw great…" Jaune said beside him. "Where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

 _'Oh right. Him.'_

"I think that would be the least of our problems." Brand said. "Come on, Jaune. Let's get a spot."

* * *

Harmon looked at all the people in the crowd. He recognized some of them from Atlas.

"Harmie… I'm boooored!" Mond was sitting on the ground beside him.

"Don't you have any games on your scroll to-" Harmon turned to his right to see his friend on the floor. "Mond!"

Mond got startled. "Huh?"

"Will you please refrain from sitting on the floor?! You have no idea how unsanitary that is."

"But my feet hurt."

Harmon just sighed and decided to let it pass. Suddenly, he heard grumbling from behind. Turning around, he saw Weiss who looked like she was in a bad mood.

"Ms. Schnee?"

"Weiss," she corrected.

"Right. Um, is there something troubling you?"

"Oh, well…" Weiss thought back. "There was this extremely clumsy dolt who knocked over my luggage."

"That's unfortunate."

"What's more is that she ignited the fire dust and caused a huge explosion! I would have been toast if it wasn't for-"

"Weiss!" Mond suddenly appeared beside her.

"Oh, not this creep again!" Weiss stepped away from the squirrel faunus. "Harmon, please keep your friend away."

"Sorry." Harmon quickly pushed Mond back down on the floor. "So, what did this girl look like anyway?"

"Oh! She was wearing a black dress with a red hoo- wait, there she is!" Weiss pointed behind Harmon.

Following her gaze, Harmon spotted a girl in a red hood talking to another girl with yellow hair.

"Hm… doesn't look like someone who'd cause trouble. Well, don't judge a book by its cover, I guess. Right, Weiss?" Looking to his right, he realized that Weiss was already making her way to the red hooded girl. "Oh no."

"What's wrong, Harmie?" Mond sprang back up.

"Weiss Schnee is not the most understanding person when it comes to disputes…" As if to prove Harmon's point, Weiss started yelling at the girl in red who instinctively jumped into the blonde's arms. "Come, Mond. We must prevent this predicament from escalating any further."

"We must what the who now?"

By the time Harmon and Mond got to the heiress, she was holding a pamphlet that read 'Dust for Dummies' in front of the red girl. She was talking… but all Harmon heard was a bunch of Schnee Dust Company things. He could see the confusion on the red head's face already.

"Laying down the terms and conditions, I see." Harmon said.

"Harmon?" Weiss turned around. "I was just helping this dolt make things up for me. You want to, don't you?"

"Uh, absolutely?" The red hooded girl answered.

"Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Weiss quickly put the pamphlet in her hands.

"Look, uh…" the blonde girl stepped in. "…it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

"Yeah! Great idea, sis! Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out?" Ruby held her hand out.

"Hi! I'm Mond!" Mond exclaimed while jumping in between them. Harmon face palmed from the side.

"Okay…" Ruby gave her hand to Mond who shook it enthusiastically. "Hi Mond! Nice to meet you."

"You too Ruby!"

"Oh great. You made friends with Captain Weirdo," Weiss said.

"There's still room for more, you know?" Ruby held out her hand to the heiress.

"Sure! We can become friends and paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys like fuzzy tail over here."

"Me?" Mond slowly turned around.

"Wow, really?" Ruby asked without realizing that Weiss was being sarcastic.

"No." Weiss answered.

* * *

"Well, they aren't far…" Jaune said while eyeing Ruby and the blonde girl who were joined by a girl in a white dress, a formal looking dude, and a faunus with a bushy tail. "Do you think we should go over to them or-"

Brand was busy tapping away at his scroll. "Huh? You say something, Jaune?"

"Never mind." Jaune's gaze returned to the girls.

"I wonder when this damn thing is gonna start…" Brand said.

"I see you made it here safely, Mr. Tachyon."

Looking to his left, Brand found a man with white hair and glasses standing beside him. He was wearing a dark green suit and had a green scarf as well as a silver cane.

"How do you know my name?" Brand asked before coming to the conclusion. "Wait, that voice… you're the huntsman who gave me the artifact job!"

"Precisely." He said, pushing up his glasses. "Although, I'd prefer it if you called me by my name, Ozpin."

"Oh, alright. Anyways, thanks for getting me into Beacon. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Oh don't you worry, Mr. Tachyon. I told you before: I have connections."

Brand smiled. "I bet… I'm assuming you're here because of your 'connections', right?"

"Something similar to that, yes." Ozpin then walked away.

"Hey, Brand?" Jaune tapped him on the shoulder. "How do you know Beacon's headmaster?"

"Well, I met him in a village near… wait. Beacon's what now?!"

"I'll keep this brief…" Ozpin was already onstage in front of a microphone. He was accompanied by the same Glynda Goodwitch from the hologram. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you… and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction."

Everyone started whispering.

"You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far... it is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin then stepped down from the stage.

 _'The headmaster of Beacon snuck me into his own school…'_ Brand thought. _'If you put it that way, it doesn't seem so bad…'_

Glynda took the microphone and spoke. "You will gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."


	2. Chapter 2: Where Every Journey Goes

**Chapter 2: Where Every Journey Goes**

Brand, wearing a dark blue shirt with black jogging pants, stood at a window overlooking a large section of the campus. Smiling, he turned his attention to the night sky. The stars scattered throughout the endless black with their bright glow.

"Brand?"

Turning around, he found Ruby behind him wearing a black tank top and rose patterned pants. She held a towel on her head and her hair was clearly wet.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"Just admiring the view." Brand looked back at the sky.

"By the way, sorry for ditching you and Jaune earlier."

"Hm?" Brand faced her. "Oh! Don't worry about that! Jaune and I got along surprisingly well…"

"I'm glad." Ruby smiled.

Brand paused before speaking again. "Say… Ruby, you said you're from Signal, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

"I'm actually… from Signal as well."

Ruby gasped. "Hold on…"

Dashing forward, Ruby stared him in the eyes. Brand on the other hand was forced onto the windowpane.

"Uh, Ruby?"

"Nope. I don't remember you."

Brand rolled his eyes. "I don't think I remember you either."

"That must be because you were a year ahead!" Ruby said gleefully.

"Uh, how-"

"Ruby?" A blonde girl wearing an orange tank top joined them on the balcony. "There you are."

"Oh, Yang!" Ruby said gleefully.

Yang looked at her then looked at Brand. "So… wanna introduce me?"

"Oh! Yes!" Ruby cleared her throat. "Yang, this is Brand! Brand, this is my sister Yang."

"Hi." Brand nervously waved.

"He's from Signal too."

Yang let out a loud gasp. "Oh really?! Which class were you under?"

Brand processed his thoughts. "Oh… uh, Mr. Branwen's, I think his name was."

"Qrow?! He's actually our uncle!" Yang smirked.

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Ruby scratched her head.

"We were in the same year, right?" Yang asked.

"Probably."

"How come I don't remember you from graduation? I'm pretty sure I would recall your name being called out."

Brand looked down. "I…"

 _'That's right… I left before my last year. Of course she doesn't remember me.'_

Brand didn't finish combat school. He didn't have a graduation for his accomplishments. The three years he spent at Signal were spent alone. He might have remembered Yang as well as the rest of his class if it wasn't for the fact that he always stayed unnoticed and distant.

"Brand?" Ruby looked concerned.

Brand noticed that his hands balled into fists. Looking at the sisters and looking back down, he dashed away.

"Brand!" Ruby shouted.

"What's with him?" Yang asked.

"I don't know…"

* * *

"No… no… no…" Sable said while dragging his sleeping bag across the floor.

"We're going to need somewhere to sleep if we want to get some rest, Sable," Melo complained.

"Too many people."

It was already night time. Everyone had gathered in the ballroom. Even if the room itself was huge, people were still crowding the area. They even mixed the girls in with the boys. Sable and Melo had already changed into their sleeping clothes which were just shirts and shorts. Brown for Sable, black for Melo.

"How about the roof?" Sable suggested.

"How about no?" Melo threw his sleeping bag into a corner. "Here. It's the most secluded spot in the entire room, happy now?"

Sable looked around. He was right. Most of the students had filled up the north side of the ballroom leaving only a few at the back.

"Fine, this will do."

"Thank god!" Melo dropped himself onto the sleeping back.

"But…"

"Aww."

"It's too dark, I can't read my book."

"Just sleep!"

"I can't sleep without finishing this chapter." Sable pulled out his erotic novel once more.

"Just go and find a flashlight or something!"

"You're leaving me alone?"

"Mmphh…" Melo had already buried his face in his sleeping bag.

"Eh, your funeral…"

* * *

Meroch awoke to a guy in a yellow shirt shaking him.

"You're sleeping already?" Aurum laughed.

"Why not? Early bird gets the worm and all…" Meroch rubbed his eyes.

Aurum placed his sleeping bag on the ground with a thud.

"You're sleeping here?" Meroch asked.

"Sure. Thanks for the idea, friend." Aurum gave him a thumbs up before laying down. "By the way, I'm surprised you're not sleeping next to Ace."

"Huh? But she…" Meroch turned to his left. An empty sleeping bag sat right next to his. "Oh great."

"By the way, I heard that a faunus labor organization was shut down two days ago," Aurum said. "When did you arrive in Vale?"

"Two days…"

"Something tells me there's more to her than meets the eye." Aurum stood up and stretched his arms. "Well, no use in us staying here! Let's go look for her!"

Meroch just smiled and joined Aurum.

* * *

Grei walked past the ballroom as he looked for a place to sleep. Suddenly, a voice called out his name.

"Grei! Why don't you sleep next to us?" Ren asked.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Nora, who was beside him, said.

"Oh… uh, sure." Grei tried his best to smile. He placed his sleeping bag beside his friends.

"Yay! New friend!" Nora shouted.

"Nora, keep it down." Ren scolded.

"Sorry…"

Ren turned his attention back to Grei. "So, what brings you to Beacon?"

"Just wanted a change of pace. Atlas was getting too boring for me with all their strict rules and guidelines."

"You're from Atlas?" Nora asked with a smile. "You don't seem like it though."

"Well, I was originally from Vacuo where I lived with my…" Grei stopped mid-sentence. He pursed his lips, a pained expression on his face. " …my family."

"Grei? Are you okay?" Ren question broke him from his reverie.

"Yeah! Yeah…" Grei resisted the urge to cry. Now was not the time. "Anyway, I'm beat. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Ren asked as Grei tucked himself deeper into his sleeping bag.

"Yeah, why not?" the boy replied over his shoulder.

"Yay! It's like a sleepover!" Nora exclaimed.

"Nora! Shhh… people are trying to sleep." Ren scolded.

"Yay, sleeepooover…" Nora whispered loudly.

"Well, good night guys." Grei said while staring at the ceiling.

* * *

"This one during the Mistral Track Meet. Do you remember that?" Avery pointed at a picture on her scroll.

"Oh, yes!" Pyrrha smiled. "That's where you won first place!"

"I'm glad you showed up." Avery smiled. "Before you, me and Ruben met some crazy people."

"Speaking of Ruben, how long is he going to stay there?" Pyrrha pointed to the other side of the room where Ruben was attempting to fix his drone.

"He's just a guy who can't take second place very well."

"I see, I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"What?!" Avery waved her hands. "No no no no… he's just a jerk. You're not any trouble at all. In fact, you're the one who inspired me to come here in the first place. All your achievements, both academically and competitively… I felt like I was also capable of those."

"And you are, Avery. I'm certain of it." Pyrrha smiled.

"Okay… where is it?" Ruben, who had walked over to them, asked.

"Where is what?" Avery avoided eye contact.

"The charger to my drone. Where. Is. It?"

"You'll have to transfer you're sleeping bag over here and apologize to Pyrrha first."

"You are the devil…"

* * *

Ace quietly made her way through the hallway, stopping at the sight of a faunus girl.

"Huh? May I help you? You're one of the new students, right?"

She had bunny ears and from the sound of her voice, she had an accent.

"Oh… yes. I was just looking for the bathroom."

"I was actually heading there myself." The bunny faunus said. "You could come with me if you want."

"Thanks…"

The two began walking down the hall.

"I'm Velvet by the way." The faunus said.

"Acerbus. But you can call me Ace."

"That's a nice name." Velvet smiled.

"Yours isn't bad as well." Ace smiled back.

Turning around the corner, Velvet stopped in her tracks.

Ace stopped as well and looked ahead of them. The bathrooms were there. One for males, one for females. Standing between them and the restrooms was a guy in an orange beanie and simple clothes.

"Well… how's second year going?" He said.

Velvet just stayed silent.

"Velvet? You going to start ignoring me again?" He tried to reach his hand out but Velvet just ran past him and into the girls' bathroom.

Sighing, he just bumped past Ace. "You one of the first years?"

"Yes."

"I'll let you off this time because of… personal reasons." The guy then walked away.

Entering the bathroom, Ace heard crying from inside the stalls. There was no one else besides her and Velvet.

"Velvet?" Ace called out.

"Sorry about this. I just… can't…"

"I'm guessing you had a history with him?" Ace sat down in front of the stall.

"I don't want to talk about it…"

Ace paused. "If he hurt you in any way I'm going to-"

"He didn't!" Velvet shouted. "Or at least nothing physical…"

"Velvet…"

"His name is Malkaush Aprikose. Believe it or not, he's joining you for initiation tomorrow."

"Initiation?! But… he looks much older than us."

"Yeah well…" Velvet inhaled. "He was supposed to be a second year this year."

Ace's eyes widened. "What happened?"

"He got himself involved with horrible people… skipping classes more frequently, getting failing grades… not to mention ignoring how anyone feels even those who were close to him!"

"Were you one of those close to him?"

Velvet stayed quiet.

Ace then decided to leave it alone. They stayed there for a few minutes before Velvet broke the silence.

"You still haven't mentioned that I was a faunus…"

"Huh? I thought that was obvious."

Velvet smiled. "Sorry, it's just that… people treat me differently because of my ears."

"You are a normal girl, Velvet. You shouldn't be ashamed of being a faunus."

"Thanks, Ace." Velvet opened the stall door, making Ace stand up.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't gone to the bathroom yet!" Ace said with a smile.

* * *

Meroch and Aurum walked down the corridor. They had been walking around for almost ten minutes but there was still no sign of Ace.

"Do you think she could've ditched?" Aurum asked.

"Ace isn't one to run away…" Meroch thought about his words. "Still, could she?"

"She's probably off brooding on the roof or something."

At that moment, a guy with an orange beanie bumped into them.

* * *

Malko got farther and farther away from the bathroom. Seeing Velvet again did not help… he needed to let off some steam. Luckily, two primly dressed guys were walking down the same corridor as him. With a smirk, he bumped into the yellow haired one.

"Hey!" the yellow head said to Malko who quickly turned around holding his scroll.

"Atlas spies, huh?" He smiled while flicking through the scroll's files. "Nice to meet you, Aurum Luculentus. Enjoying Vale so far?"

"That's confidential information!" Aurum shouted as he made a grab for Malko. However, he nimbly stepped out of the Atlesian boy's range.

"Still, some interesting stuff here..."

"Please. Put that down. You do not want to mess with this guy," the boy beside Aurum said.

"It's alright. I'm not doing any harm. Oooh!" Malkaush grinned. "Who's Dawn?"

"Aaargh!" Aurum quickly charged at Malko and grabbed his neck.

Malko struggled in his grip while trying to make out words. "You… just made it easier for me…"

His eyes glowed white as his semblance activated.

* * *

 _'What is this?'_ Aurum thought. _'I have an urge to let him go… why? Maybe I should…'_

Aurum's grip started loosening.

 _'No! It must be his semblance! Remember your training….'_

* * *

Malko started to panic.

 _'Why isn't this working?!'_ He tried to gasp for air but it only tightened the grip.

* * *

"Aurum, stop!" Meroch pulled his friend away. The man with the orange beanie collapsed on the ground, taking in heavy breaths. "He's not worth it. Do you really want to go back to Atlas?"

Aurum let out a loud exhale. "Let's go… please…"

* * *

 _'What was that?!'_ Malko stared at his hand. _'My… semblance… failed?'_

He gritted his teeth. His semblance was the only thing that got him through his first year at Beacon. If it were to fail this year…

Malko recalled the words Glynda Goodwitch said to him.

 ** _'Fail this year… and you're out of Beacon for good.'_**

What would he do then? It's not like his family would welcome him with open arms.

Malkaush continued down the hall. He needed his rest anyway. Another stupid initiation tomorrow.

* * *

"Meroch, over here." Aurum waved at his friend.

"What is it?" Meroch joined Aurum and peeked around the corner.

Ace was conversing with a rabbit faunus… and it looked like she was having fun.

"They grow up so fast." Aurum laughed.

Meroch ignored him and went up to the two. "Ace? I was worried that you were lost."

"Roch?" Ace turned around and checked her scroll. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't know it was this late."

"It's alright!" Meroch smiled. "So who's your new friend here? She part of the recruits as well?"

"Um…" the bunny girl spoke up. "I'm Velvet and I'm actually a second year."

"Oh! My apologies!" Meroch bowed. "I didn't know you were an upper classman."

Velvet smiled. "Oh! No need to apologize…"

"Meroch. Meroch Leviot!" Meroch held his hand out.

Velvet nervously took it. "Well… nice to meet you, Meroch. Anyway, I got to get some sleep. I can show you two around tomorrow!"

"Thanks." Meroch and Ace waved at Velvet until she disappeared.

"Well… looks like we **ACE** d this search mission!" Aurum laughed from behind them.

Ace instinctively hid behind Meroch once more.

"Aurum…" Meroch sighed. "Never make those jokes… Ever. Again."

* * *

Sable looked around for any source of portable light. Unfortunately, the only things lighting the area were dim chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Sable thought of shooting one down and grabbing a candle but unfortunately, he would get in trouble.

Checking around the bookshelves, he did find some extra candles… although, they were already burnt out. A speck of light caught his eye. There was a girl sitting on the floor, reading a book. She had black hair and amber eyes as well as a black bow on her head. A candelabrum sat on a small stool next to her.

Looking around, Sable found that that was the only candelabrum in the entire ballroom. No choice then.

"You mind if I take this?" Sable asked, pointing at the candles.

"Uh… yeah. I'm kind of using it right now." The girl lit the candles.

"Well then…" Sable slumped down in between her and the stool, making the girl scoot over.

"Hey! You can't just-"

"Shh…" Sable raised his finger and took out his book. "Just one more chapter, dear."

"Uhh… is that?" The girl read the cover. "She Is Young?"

"I see you're familiar with this _'romance'_ novel involving time travelling girlfriends," He said.

"Well! I only heard about it! It's not like I've read it or anything…" She was blushing hard now.

"Shh… as I said. One more chapter."

Silence fell between the two before the voice of another girl interrupted.

"Heeelloooo…." A blonde girl dragged a red haired girl towards them. They were both wearing tank tops.

Sable peeked from behind his book. "Oh fu-"

"I believe you two may know each other!" The blonde continued.

The girl with the black bow stared at them with a blank face.

"Aren't you that girl who exploded?" She asked the red head.

"Uh… yeah! My name's Ruby…" Ruby held her hand out. "But you can just call me crater… actually you can just call me Ruby."

Sable started chuckling. "Nice one."

"Hey! We're not talking to you!" The blonde said to Sable.

"And I don't want to talk to you either… so just leave me alone and take your chit-chat with _'Madame Gloomy'_ somewhere else."

"Why you…" the blonde started getting angry.

"Do not call me _'Madame Gloomy'_." the black haired girl said before moving her eyes back to her book.

"Don't care, almost done." Sable went back to his book as well.

"This is going nowhere…" Ruby whispered to the blonde.

Sighing, the blonde spoke up again. "So, what's your actual name?"

Looking at them once more, she spoke up. "Blake."

"Well, Blake. I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister. I like your bow!"

"Right…" Blake said before ignoring them once more.

Laughing nervously, Yang tried to give it another shot.

"Nice night don't you think?"

"Yes! It's lovely." Blake had an annoyed look on her face. "Almost as lovely as this book. That I will continue to read… as soon as you leave…"

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause." Yang told Ruby.

"You think?" Sable said.

"You going to finish your book or what?" Yang asked.

"Jeez. What's with you? I'm done." Sable closed his book. "So are you three going to be besties or what?"

"Why are you acting so rude?"

"No reason, just love the gentle caress of chaos." Sable stood up and went past them.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked Blake.

"Huh?" Blake looked up.

"Your book. Does it have a name?"

Sable had already started walking but stopped after hearing Ruby's question. He, surprisingly, was also interested to hear Blake's answer.

"It's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body…" Blake answered.

"Oh yeah… that's… real lovely…" Yang said.

"I like books." Ruby said. "Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories about heroes, monsters… they're one of the reasons I want to become a huntress."

Blake smirked. "Why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books. Someone who fought for what was right and protected people who couldn't protect themselves."

Blake smiled.

"That's very ambitious for a child." Her smile quickly disappeared. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

"Well… that's why we're here… to make it better…"

"Oh! I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang caught Ruby in a bear hug.

"Yang! Cut it out!"

The two of them started fighting.

"Ah, conflict ensues once more…" Sable said, sitting back down beside Blake.

"Why are you still here?" Blake asked.

"What in the world is going on here?!" A girl in a white dress joined in.

 _'This is going to be interesting…'_

* * *

Harmon sighed. "Not again…"

"Harmie? What is it?" Mond looked at Weiss who was arguing at Ruby and her sister. A girl with a black bow as well as a boy in a brown shirt sat on the floor watching.

"Mond. Stay here. I mean it."

Walking over to the three, Harmon heard the shouting.

"Yeah! What's your problem with my sister?! She's only trying to be nice!" Yang shouted.

"She's a hazard to my health!" The white haired girl shouted back.

"Ladies, can we turn down the volume, please?" A boy with tidy hair arrived to settle the argument.

"Sorry, Harmon. I was just dealing with these two imbeciles as gently as I could." Weiss crossed her arms.

"Hi, Weiss!" A squirrel boy jumped in. The more the merrier is what Sable thought.

"Mond! What did I say?!"

Looking to his left, he noticed that Blake had started reading her book again.

"That doesn't happen to be _'A Brother's Vengeance'_ , does it?" Sable asked.

Blake paused before facing Sable. "You've read it?"

"Sure have." Sable smiled. "What chapter are you on?"

"Thirty…"

"You cry on chapter twenty seven?"

Blake laughed. "Not really. Did you cry?"

"On the inside."

Blake smirked. They sat there watching the argument unfold.

"You done?" Sable grabbed the candelabrum

"For the night." Blake answered before closing her book.

"Rest in peace then…" Sable took out the flames with one blow.


	3. Chapter 3: The Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 3: The Calm Before the Storm**

"Wake up, lazy butts!" Nora shouted.

Grei quickly covered his ears and rolled over. "Aw, Nora, don't shout…"

"It's morning! It's morning! Iiiiit's mooooorniiing!" She sang.

Ren sat up and rubbed his head. "Sorry about the wakeup call, Grei. She's always like this when she's excited."

Looking to his right, Ren found Grei packing up his sleeping bag whilst still rolling.

"Oh? It's fine, Ren." Grei said after finally standing up. "Besides, a head start is what we need in preparation for what's to come."

"Right." Ren yawned. "Initiation's today…"

* * *

Brand had already changed into his combat clothes and was heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. For the entire morning, he avoided Ruby and her sister, Yang due to their little incident last night. What would they think of him if they knew he entered Beacon without finishing combat school?

Brand just brushed off the thought and entered the extravagant cafeteria. It was filled with different students eager to start their day. Brand figured that the initiation was most likely combat based. Grabbing a plate of hotcakes, he made his way to an empty table on the other side of the room.

 _'Looks like neither Ruby nor Yang's awake yet…'_

"Hey, buddy!" Jaune said as he sat right beside Brand with another plate of hotcakes.

"Oh, hi Jaune. Sleep well?" Brand asked before stuffing his mouth.

"Not really… there was this guy who kept messing with my sleeping bag. I had to move to another room."

Brand eyed him. "Really now? Is that why I didn't see you in the ballroom last night?"

"Yeah… hey! Have you seen Ruby?"

Brand paused. "No."

"Eh, she's one of the only girls to enjoy their time with me. Well, besides my mom and my sisters…"

Brand just ate in silence.

"So, Brand. What do you think of the initiation?" Jaune asked.

"Probably just something to do with fighting."

"Well, I figured that much…" Jaune's eyes turned to the entrance of the cafeteria. "Oh! There she is!"

Right at the door stood Ruby and Yang who were eying the food.

"Huh, she's with another girl… we should invite them to our table!" Jaune looked at Brand. He had already cleaned his plate.

"Yeah, I'll see ya at the locker room. Bye." Brand said as he stood up and briskly walked out of the dining hall.

* * *

"Oh, that was good!" Sable yawned as he patted his stomach.

"You ate four plates…" Melo said with a concerned look.

"If I say I can handle it, I can handle it."

They walked out of the cafeteria and headed for the locker room where they kept their weapons.

"Number 626…" Sable browsed the lockers one by one before he came across his. "There we go!"

Sable pulled out Final Whisper and flicked it open. He then grabbed his extra packs of arrows along with his quiver and put them on.

"You know, it feels good to use these in combat again." Melo approached his friend with Vashta Nerada already attached to his back.

"Looking good, my friend!" Sable folded his bow and hung it on his shoulder. "Now, let's go kill stuff!"

"Please let it be Grimm."

* * *

"This is ridiculous!" Jaune shouted while walking across the room looking at a piece of paper. "There's no way I put my stuff in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered to count that high!"

"We should check the 300's down there." Brand followed with Cobalt Ravager firmly clipped to his sides.

"Oh why does this have to happen today…"

* * *

"I know! We'll have some sort of signal!" Nora raised her fist. "A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest!"

Ren was checking on his green sickle pistol things, while Grei was equipping his Hounds' Fangs. Nora had been talking all day about teams and was discussing plans with Ren and Grei, to their discomfort.

"Hey, can you guys imitate a sloth?!"

"Nora." Ren slid his weapons into his sleeves. "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise."

Nora's eyes widened. "That's why it's perfect! No one will suspect we're working together!"

Grei joined his friends after adjusting his gauntlets. "Ready to go, guys?"

"Definitely." Ren smiled back.

* * *

Ruben attached the Mark IV rocket propulsion modules to his boots.

"Alright, that should do."

"What are those?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, Ms. Nikos. These are high propulsion, flight capable-"

"They're rocket boots." Avery interrupted.

"They are not rocket boots! They are modules that I attach onto my boots."

"So they're rockets on boots?"

Ruben face palmed. "I give up."

Avery let out a laugh. "So Pyrrha. Where's your weapons?"

"Oh, they're in the lockers down the hallway. I just decided to go with you since your lockers were nearby."

"Okay. Come on then. I want to see your spear gun thingy again." Avery said after putting on Solstice Reaver.

* * *

"Did you hear about the teams?" Harmon asked.

"Teams?" Mond said while putting on his gloves.

"Yeah." Weiss answered. "We will be splitting up into teams. I don't know how but we could probably choose our teammates."

"Oh! In that case I want you and Harmie in my team!"

Weiss laughed. "As if I'd be on the same team as a mongrel such as yourself!"

"What's a mong-rel?" Mond asked Harmon.

"Not a compliment." Harmon put Relentless Harmony on the back of his waist.

"Hey, is that your piano?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Ooh… I never thought it would be your weapon as well." Weiss touched the sword.

"Well, it's helpful for dual tasking."

Weiss then looked away. Her eyes lit up as she spotted a girl with red hair and combat armor.

"There she is!" Weiss said.

"Who?" Harmon asked.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Top of her class in Sanctum."

"Ooooh…" Mond looked at her eyes glazed. "Is she strong?"

"Oh yes she is. Now that's someone I'd want on my team." Weiss started walking towards Pyrrha. "I'm going to ask her. Don't worry, I'll save you a spot, Harmon!"

"How 'bout me?" Mond asked but Weiss was already out of hearing range.

"Don't worry." Harmon put his hand on the faunus' shoulder. "I'll make sure there's room for the three of us."

* * *

Pyrrha arrived at her locker along with Avery. At that moment, a girl in a white combat dress walked up to them.

"Hello! Weiss Schnee." She introduced herself.

"Oh… Avery Daggry."

"Pyrrha Nikos."

"Yeah, I know who you are." Weiss told Pyrrha. "The most outstanding student in Mistral."

"I wouldn't put it that way…"

"Sorry, she's very humble." Avery held Pyrrha's shoulders.

"Right…" Weiss said. "So, Pyrrha have you put any thought into who your teammates will be? I'm sure everyone will want to have such a strong and well known individual such as yourself on their team."

"Well, I was considering Avery here to be part of my team."

"Alright... I was actually thinking we could be on the same team together."

"That sounds amaaaazing!" Avery exclaimed.

"I have no objections." Pyrrha responded.

"Great!" Weiss exclaimed before turning around.

"Uh… what's with her weird face?" Avery asked.

"You know what else is great?" A boy with blonde hair stood in between Avery and Weiss. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

"You again?!" Weiss asked mockingly.

"Nice to meet you, Jaune." Pyrrha waved at him.

"Yeah..." Avery followed.

"Yeah, yeah…" Jaune brushed Pyrrha and Avery to the side. "So Weiss, I couldn't help but notice your fondness over me."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." Weiss crossed her arms.

"Don't worry. No need to be embarrassed." Jaune said with a confident tone. "So I've been hearing rumors about teeeaams… I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say?"

"I think the teams are comprised of four students each." Pyrrha said.

"Are they?" Avery asked.

Jaune then darted to Pyrrha and Avery. "Well then, hot stuffs. Play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

"Jaune, is it?" Weiss quickly dashed in between them. "Do you have any clue to who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel."

Weiss looked like she was about to blow. "This is Pyrrha."

"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved once more.

"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss explained.

"Never heard of it." Jaune replied.

"Ah! She's won the Mistral regional tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"

"The what?"

To Avery, Jaune was looking more and more stupid by the second.

"Well, she's also on the front of every 'Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes' box." Avery added.

Jaune gasped loudly. "That's you?! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha said. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"So after hearing all this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss got back on topic.

"I guess not… sorry." Jaune looked down.

"Hey, don't be mean…" Avery tried to tell Weiss.

"Actually, Jaune." Pyrrha walked up to him. "I think you'd make a great leader."

"D'oh! Stop it!" Jaune's face lit up.

"Seriously, please stop it." Weiss said. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"

"Sounds like Pyrrha's onboard for team Jaune." Jaune turned to Avery. "You're joining as well. Right, beautiful?"

"Uh… sure. As long as my friend, Ruben, can join too." Avery had a confused look on her face.

"Ooh!" Jaune faced Weiss again. "Looks like all the spots are filled up. Now, I'm not supposed to do this but maybe I could pull a few strings, find a place for ya. What do you say?"

"Alright!" Weiss backed up. "That's a bit too close! Pyrrha? A little help please?"

After a second, a spear came flying towards Jaune, hitting the hood of his jacket and sending him flying to the wall where he was pinned down.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha apologized.

"Hey, it's the gun spear!" Avery said with a smile.

* * *

Brand kept his distance from Jaune. He did not want to get involved with more people, especially if Jaune was around. Everything seemed like it was going well between Jaune and the three girls… until one of them threw a spear and pinned him to the wall.

 **"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation."** Glynda's voice echoed through the locker room. **"Again: all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."**

"Time to go." Brand exited the room.

* * *

"Well, you heard the woman." Avery tapped Weiss' shoulders. "Nice meeting you, Weiss!"

"Likewise…"

As they exited the locker room, a voice boomed from behind. "Schnee!"

"Ruben?" Avery turned around along with Weiss.

"I never thought a Crimson would be coming to this school. It just makes this place more unbearable." Weiss crossed her arms.

Pushing up his glasses, Ruben let out a chuckle. "At least our family doesn't use a faunus work force."

"That is just a bunch of slander and lies!"

"I'd like to look around your facilities then…" Ruben pulled out his drone.

"I'd rather die than let dunces like you enter Schnee territory!"

"Hey!" Avery raised her arms. "Stop! Please?! Ruben, I just met her! We were becoming friends!"

"We were?" Weiss asked.

"Yes." Avery said confidently. "Weiss, this is my friend! You do not go and insult his heritage!"

"Damn right." Ruben smiled.

"That goes for you too, Ruben."

"Why do I get two strikes?!"

Avery crossed her arms. "Now let's all be friends in case we're in the same team."

Weiss and Ruben glared at each other before speaking at the same time. "No."

"If you'll excuse me…" Weiss started walking away. "…I'm heading to Beacon cliff."

Avery pouted at Ruben. "Can you at least try to be nice to people?"

"Hey, a man's gotta defend his family." Ruben adjusted his lab coat. "Let's go, Aves. Destiny awaits."

* * *

"You sure?" Aurum asked Velvet. "No hint or helpful tips?"

"Sorry. Can't spoil you." Velvet smiled.

"I know it's going to be in the Emerald forest…" Meroch added.

"Well, you're right there." Velvet assured.

Aurum, Meroch, Ace and their newfound friend, Velvet were on their way to Beacon Cliff. So far, Aurum and Meroch had conversed with the second year bunny faunus and had gotten acquainted with her thanks to Ace.

Aurum looked at Meroch. Ace was still clinging on his arm, giving Aurum a stare.

"Why is she still like that?" Aurum asked. "She wasn't like that in front of Velvet."

"Hm?" Velvet glanced at Ace. "Ace? Are you okay?"

Ace just nodded.

"She probably doesn't like you." Meroch told Aurum.

"What?! But I'm a nice person…" Aurum went over to Ace and put on a funny face. "Look, I'm not scary…"

"Roch, get him away." Ace whispered.

"You heard her." Meroch said.

Aurum sighed. "Fine. Be like that. So, Velvet!"

"We're here!" Velvet exclaimed.

They had reached the start of a pathway leading down a hill.

"Take this path right here and it'll lead you straight to Beacon Cliff." Velvet explained.

"Thanks, Velvet. I appreciate you showing us where to go." Meroch said.

"What he said." Aurum started walking down the path.

Meroch followed as well with Ace behind him. She then turned around to wave at Velvet.

"Good luck you guys!" Velvet shouted while waving.

* * *

Brand looked around him. Students were standing on numerous pedestals facing the edge of the cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest.

 _'This place should be teeming with Grimm.'_ Brand patted his two axes.

Looking to his right, he spotted Ruby in the middle her sister, Yang, and Jaune. She glanced at him, making him look away in order to avoid eye contact. At that moment, three people arrived and took their places on the pedestal. Ozpin, with a mug of coffee in hand, and Glynda then appeared in front of them.

"That looks like everyone." Glynda told Ozpin.

"I shall start then." Ozpin cleared his throat. "For years you have trained to become warriors and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now…" Glynda continued. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion."

 _'Teams?'_ Brand started sweating.

"Each of you will be given teammates. Today."

 _'Oh no.'_

"These teammates will be with you for the rest your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you could work well." Ozpin explained further. "That being said… the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Aw great…" Brand couldn't stop himself from saying that out loud.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the other end of the forest." Ozpin said. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die."

* * *

"Do the other students count as everything?" Sable asked Melo.

"Hey, shh!" Melo put his finger on his mouth.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of the initiation. But our instructors will not intervene." Ozpin said. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

* * *

"Yeah, um… sir?"

Malkaush heard a wimpy voice to his right.

"Good! Now take your positions." Ozpin ignored the boy.

Malkaush smiled as he prepared Charlotte's Web for battle.

* * *

Mond slid a slice of cheese into his mouth and smiled. Harmon just shook his head and took out Relentless Harmony.

"Um… sir?" The same blonde boy who spoke a second ago said. "I've got um… a question."

Harmon heard a quick sound on his left. Weiss had already launched off the cliff and was currently in the air.

"Woohoo!" Mond gleefully shouted before he was sprung into the air as well.

* * *

"So… this landing strategy thing… uh... what is it? You're like dropping us off or something?"

Ruben laughed at the blonde's idiotic question.

"No." Ozpin answered the Blonde. "You will be falling."

"Hey!" Avery punched him in the shoulder. "Get ready!"

Looking to his left, he noticed that it was almost their turn to be launched off the cliff.

* * *

"Oh… I see-" Brand was instantly launched into the air, cutting off Jaune's voice.

 _'Eh, I'm sure he can handle himself.'_ Brand noticed that he was quickly plummeting to the ground. Instead of taking out his weapons, Brand kept them holstered. He leaned forward, head first, and put on his goggles. The position sped his body up until he crashed into the trees and into the ground, forming a Brand sized crater.

Brand got out of the crater, wiping the dirt off his clothes and coughing. His body glowed bright blue as his aura rapidly healed.

* * *

Mond swallowed his cheese in mid-air as he aimed for a tree taller than the rest. Flicking out his claws, he grabbed the trunk and spiraled his way down onto the ground.

* * *

Melo charged up balls of wind dust in both of his hands and threw them at the ground. The wind blew against him, slowing his descent before he latched onto the shadow of a nearby short tree. He came out of the darkness and pulled his mask up.

* * *

Sable flew through the air with his bow in his hands. He pulled out three ice arrows from his quiver and aimed at the tree line. His eyes turned white as he processed the points of the trees. Sable then fired all three arrows. The first hit a tall tree, freezing the top. The second hit a tree below that as well as the edge of the frozen tree. The third hit the ground, attaching to the second frozen tree and formed a ramp. Sable landed on the ice ramp and skated down onto the ground, safely.

* * *

Ruben activated his propulsion devices. Fire came out from the sides of his boots, allowing him to float. He then spotted what looked like a meteor about to reach the tree line. It was basically a ball of flame at this point.

* * *

"WOOHOOO!" Avery screamed as she approached the brush. She activated Solstice Reaver and chucked out enough flame to activate her semblance. Combining these, she managed to turn herself into a makeshift rocket but ended up burning the trees along the way.

* * *

Malkaush grinned and let out his strings. The wires extended and caught themselves onto the trees. He then swiftly swung down using the branches and landed with a thud.

* * *

Harmon played a few keys on Relentless Harmony, emitting blasts of wind dust. The force of the wind slowed down his fall, allowing him to land safely.

* * *

Grei activated his semblance and slowly floated his way onto the ground.

"Huh, that was easy enough…"

* * *

Ace quickly took out both pieces of Krov and put them together in mid-air. She spun the giant shuriken over her head and landed it onto a nearby tree trunk. The blade cut through the entire tree until Ace's feet touched the ground.

* * *

Meroch got out his chakram and threw it at the ground. Wind dust discharged from the weapon and produced an air current, slowing his descent before he landed with a front roll. Meroch then grabbed his chakram and broke into a sprint.

* * *

Aurum plummeted into the Emerald Forest. He got out Radiant Shard and fired it at the ground. The recoil slowed his speed but he was still falling. He transformed his weapon back into its shield form and placed it under his feet. Aurum adjusted his body so that the front of the shield was facing downwards. He landed on the side of a curving tree trunk and rode his way down. The shield screeched to a halt before Aurum kicked it up and attached it back onto his hand.

* * *

Brand started running through the forest. He didn't know what he was going to face or who he was going to meet. All he knew that this was the start… the beginning of his time at Beacon. This was where he was going to prove himself.


	4. Chapter 4: The Verdant Trial

**Chapter 4: The Verdant Trial**

As Avery descended into the forest, she threw flames at the brush, setting them on fire and creating updrafts that helped slow her down. With one big blast, the wind pushed against her allowing a safe landing.

Avery stretched her arms as she looked at the forest fire behind her. "Uh oh…"

"Avery!" Ruben suddenly landed next to her, his rocket boots emitting a puff of smoke around his ankles.

"Do you have any idea as how much damage a fire like this could cause to a forest?" He reprimanded.

"What fire?" replied the grinning girl.

Ruben turned around to see that the fire had slowly left the forest and swirled into her.

"I forgot you could do that." He grumbled.

"Yep," said Avery with a smug look on her face.

"Well, looks like we're partners," Ruben sighed.

"What? No 'sorry'? No 'Thanks for stopping fire Avery! You're so awesome'? "

"Let's get moving. North is that way." Ruben said, already walking in the direction of the temple.

Avery pouted.

* * *

Meroch dashed through the green forest in search of Ace. It would be nice for her to find someone else as a partner, but he couldn't trust anyone with her. He was assigned by his parents to protect her and that's exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

Aurum fired up his scroll. A map program appeared onscreen with a red dot and a green dot. The green dot represented Aurum and the red one, Grei. It was easy to track him because of his high frequency gravity fields. Aurum nodded and headed for the red dot.

* * *

Malko jumped from tree to tree. His strings helped his mobility. Eying his surroundings, he spotted a figure in the distance. He had well-kept hair and was wearing a necktie along with a waistcoat. The boy looked like one of those rich kids from Atlas.

 _'Perfect,'_ Malko thought as he swung from branch to branch

He had gone through initiation before. This was no different. Find a partner, get whatever Ozpenis puts as a relic, and get out. However, this time he wanted to have a little fun.

* * *

Harmon calmly walked through the forest. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of his head as he loosened his necktie and looked up at the sweltering sun.

"It's quite hot today"

Harmon paused. He stared at the sun through the trees. There were visible lines of string that weaved across the branches. Curiously, he raised a hand to touch it but was immediately pulled up by the legs. He let out a grunt of pain at the sudden movement.

The strings turned him upside down. Harmon adjusted his vision and saw a guy with an orange beanie standing in front of him with a smirk.

* * *

Malko took a good look at his catch. He was definitely one of those goody-two-shoes kinds of fish.

"What are you doing?!" he screamed, flailing around and trying to escape the strings. His efforts proved useless as he felt some of the strings tighten around his legs.

"Hey there, partner." Malko looked him in the eye.

"I demand you let me down this instant!" Harmon yelled.

"I'm Malkaush, but you can call me Malko." his apprehender gave a lighthearted smile.

"Harmon," the boy introduced himself as well. "Now could you let me down? All the blood's rushing to my head."

"I don't know. You from Atlas?"

"Yes. Now if you-"

"Ah. I thought you looked a bit clean," Malko interrupted.

Harmon gritted his teeth in frustration. This was going nowhere. He moved his right hand around and felt the hilt of Relentless Harmony.

"You see, I'm not the kind of person who lets go of anger easily." the beanie wearing boy continued ranting on.

Harmon felt his way around his weapon until he found the piano keys.

"So, to make up for it-"

* * *

Malko was interrupted by a loud blast. This kid, Harmon, had shot himself out of his strings. He staggered back as Harmon landed on the ground, a giant sword in his hands. Malko noticed that the blade resembled a piano, complete with the black and white keys.

"Now, we have two choices," Harmon suggested. "We can continue our way to the temple. As partners, or we can end it here."

Malko laughed as his strings retracted into circular dials at the back of the fingerless gloves he was wearing. "You really think you can stand up against me?"

"If that's what I have to do, then yes." Harmon took on a defensive stance, weapon in hand.

"Alright then."

* * *

To Harmon's surprise, Malko just walked past him with his hands behind his head.

"Come on then," Malko called out to Harmon. He was already several ways ahead of him.

"You're not going to fight?" Harmon asked in confusion.

"I called you 'partner', didn't I?" Malko turned around. "Let's go. I want to get to the temple first."

Harmon sheathed Relentless Harmony and let out a tired sigh. He resigned himself to his fate.

* * *

Ace carefully zipped around the trees before jumping up on a branch. She closed her eyes and started singing, as if she was tuning her voice. Her high pitched tone echoed through the forest.

"There." She immediately stopped singing and began jumping from branch to branch.

* * *

Meroch immediately ran towards the direction of the voice of his friend. He knew that singing was one of Ace's favorite habits. However shy she was, her voice still sounded beautiful. Meroch stopped in his tracks. Standing in the silent breeze, he heard a small whoosh behind him. Turning around, he found Ace standing there and smiling.

"You should start a singing career, you know that?"

"I don't like crowds," Ace retorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Come on. Let's get to the temple," Meroch gestured to the path further ahead."

* * *

Melano sped past the shadows casted by the trees. Leaping out, he front rolled and put his back to a large trunk. No sign of Sable. Melo felt relieved. Honestly, Sable was a handful. And if someone else were to be his partner, that someone could be a better friend than he ever was… a better person.

"Hi there!"

Melo was snapped back into reality by a white squirrel faunus hanging from a tree. He had a wide smile plastered on his face as well as two big teeth in the middle of his mouth

"Uh, hello..."

"Hi. I'm Mond," the faunus said before flipping onto the ground.

Melo sighed. "Nice to meet you, Mond. I'm Melano. Melo for short."

"Huh? You're not short at all." Mond eyed him suspiciously.

"No… my nickname is Melo." He explained.

The squirrel faunus let out a prolonged 'oh.' "Hi Melo."

"How many times have you said hi?"

"No idea."

"So, should we get moving?" Melo pointed north.

"Alright!" Mond agreed energetically, raising his fist into the air.

He seemed a bit weird, but Melo thought he was alright. A faunus is no different from a human. Well, that's what Melo thought.

* * *

Grei strolled along the green path, passing by countless trees. The heat didn't bother him. After all, he used to live in Vacuo.

A particular tree caught his attention. The bark was lined with large claw marks. Touching the trunk, Grei estimated that it belonged to a Grimm of tremendous size. Suddenly, he heard rustling from a nearby brush. The boy readied Hound's Fangs.

"Wait!" a male voice called out from the greenery.

A boy in a yellow trench coat came out.

"I'm friendly," he said with his arms raised.

"Oh." Grei lowered his weapons and smiled. "I guess that means we're partners."

"Luculentus. Aurum," the boy introduced himself with a bow.

"Uh, which one comes first?" the gray haired boy asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Aurum."

"Ah. I'm Grei. Schimmel. In that order."

"Nice to meet you, Grei," Aurum smiled.

Grei smiled back. Aurum wasn't Ren or Nora, but at least he was a new friend.

* * *

Brand walked through the forest and took in the scenery. It was beautiful… if there weren't any Grimm. However, he had yet to encounter one.

 _'North he said…'_ Brand took out his compass.

At this time, Brand began feeling bored to the point of kicking stones on the side. Footsteps made Brand freeze in his tracks. He quickly hid behind a nearby tree.

 _'Grimm?'_ Brand thought. _'No… too soft… it's…'_

Brand jumped out from behind the tree. To his surprise, a boy in a brown suit stood in front of him. He had a book in hand and was reading it.

"Um…" Brand tried to speak.

"Not Melo, not interested." The boy walked past him as if Brand was never there to begin with.

"Wait! Hey!" Brand sighed. "Don't we have to partner up?"

"That's only if we make eye contact." The student continued reading and walked away. "Good day."

* * *

Sable flipped a page and continued walking. The book came in handy after all.

 _'This kid doesn't matter. He sure was tall though. I need to find Melo,'_ he thought to himself as he got further and further away from the boy.

Suddenly, he heard a nearby growl. Sable stopped in his tracks and looked up. The bushes ahead of him shook out a few leaves. Tucking his book into his coat, Sable drew Final Whisper from its sheath and smiled from ear to ear. The bushes stopped shaking. Sable blinked then frowned.

"Huh?"

A Beowolf suddenly leapt at him from his right. Its claws shone in the sunlight. Sable tried to grab an arrow from his quiver, but he was knocked onto the ground. He could feel his aura being damaged. The Beowolf growled at him and prepared for another blow.

But the attack never came.

* * *

Brand didn't know who this guy was or why he jumped in. He just had to. The Beowolf's claws hit him instead of that bookworm. Brand staggered a bit before his semblance regenerated his aura. Taking out his weapons, he flicked out the ax blades and rushed at the Beowolf. It was pushed back as Brand fired more continuous shots into its stomach.

However, the Grimm was still standing. An arrow suddenly flew past Brand and hit the its abdomen, exploding and tearing its body in half.

Brand let out a sigh of relief. Turning around, he made eye contact with the brown haired boy. They stared at each other before the bookworm let out a shout of anger.

* * *

"Damn it!" Sable stomped his foot before sighing. "Well, I guess it's you and me then."

"Uh… sure," the blue haired guy said.

"Name's Sable."

"Brand."

"You're huge, Brand," Sable tapped his newfound partner on the shoulder and started walking. "Let's head north."

Brand just shook it off and followed. They walked for a bit before he stopped.

"Wait… that's weird." Brand looked around.

"What, me?" Sable cut in happily.

"No. Beowolves usually hunt in packs. The one I saved you from was alone."

Sable laughed. "Okay. One: you didn't save me. I was going to shove an explosive arrow in its neck as it was about to hit me so technically, I would've been fine. And two: there's a pack of Beowolves in that direction attacking two people."

Brand noticed that Sable's eyes had turned white. Looking behind, he could hear howling as well as metal clashing.

"Sable, let's go!" Brand ran towards the commotion.

"Wait! Brand! Save some for me!"

Ahead of them were two girls defending themselves against an entire pack of Beowolves.

 _'Ruby and Weiss!'_

A nearby tree fell down in flames. The fire burned bright as the Beowolves howled.

"We need to go!" Weiss tugged on Ruby's arm.

"Ruby!" Brand shouted as he drew his weapons and flicked the blades open.

"Brand?" Ruby turned around.

"You again?" Weiss glanced at Brand.

"And I'm Sable!" Sable took out his bow and followed closely. "Now that introductions are done, can we please kill?"

The four of them stood back to back, facing the converging group of Grimm while flames rose around them. Brand noticed that the fire was spreading fast. At this rate, the entire forest was going to be burned down!

"No!" Brand shouted. "Priority is to stop this fire from spreading!"

"Are you insane?!" Weiss screamed. "Do you not see the huge number of killer Grimm in front of us?!"

"No, he's right!" Ruby joined in. "We need to stop this fire!"

"Just tell me what to hit." Sable had the manic grin back on his face.

Brand closed his eyes for a second. He needed to come up with a plan. Put out the forest fire and defeat an army of Grimm…

"Sable!" Brand opened his eyes. "I spotted ice dust in your quiver! Use that to create a perimeter around the burning section of the forest! We need to contain the spreading."

"On it!" Sable leapt into action, kicking a few Beowolves along the way.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted. "You have ice dust as well, don't you? Help him!"

"Who put you in charge?!" Weiss turned to Brand, clearly offended from being ordered around.

The Beowolves started closing in.

"Just go!" Ruby sped forward and slashed a Beowolf in half with her scythe.

Brand's eyes widened. Her Crescent Rose was truly a remarkable weapon. Snapping out of his thoughts, Brand realized that he had been surrounded from all sides by the Grimm. He firmly attached both ends of his axes together and spun it.

' _Ruby's not the only one with a cool weapon.'_

As the Grimm charged, Brand swung Cobalt Ravager around his head and landed blows on several Beowolves. Firing the back end of his weapon, he hit an incoming Grimm from behind. More and more came as he slashed at them. He then fired at the ground and flipped into the air. He landed behind Ruby, who was swinging her scythe around and killing Beowolves. The two stood back to back.

"You sure you won't get hit by Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked.

"As long as you don't get hit by Cobalt Ravager." Brand put on his goggles.

"Go Signal."

* * *

Sable jumped on top of a burning Beowolf's head and shot an ice arrow at the flames engulfing it, freezing the Beowolf as well.

"Heh! Why don't you just **CHILL** out?!" Sable laughed.

"Are you laughing at your own joke?!"

He looked to his side to see that the girl in the white dress stood beside him. He noticed she had a scar on her left eye.

"I'm calling you Scarface," Sable said before grabbing three more ice arrows.

"Hey! It's Weiss! Don't you dare call me Scarface!" Weiss fired more ice dust out of Myrtenaster at even more flames.

"Hey, hit that area, will ya Scarface?" Sable fired arrows around the fire.

Weiss just sighed and sped to the end of the flames on the other side using her glyphs. Sable ran up to a Beowolf, kicked its head, and shot an arrow right through its skull. He paused for a moment and noticed that a bigger Beowolf stood in the middle.

 _'That must be the alpha…'_

* * *

Brand ducked as Ruby jumped over him. Her scythe sliced through two Beowolves. Brand fired spread shots in front of him, spinning Cobalt Ravager. A Beowolf jumped at him. Brand just swung upward and hit its chin, knocking it back. Ruby spun her scythe around and fired at the incoming Grimm.

"They keep coming!" Brand shouted.

"Hey, Blue!" Sable called out to Brand. "The alpha! In the middle!"

Brand looked at the middle of the pack. A large Beowolf stood there with its eyes gleaming blood red.

"I got it!" Ruby dashed towards the alpha, leaving a trail of rose petals.

Spinning her scythe, Ruby swung at the large Grimm who just blocked her blows with his claws. Brand noticed that Ruby needed help and Weiss and Sable were still busy trying to put out the fire.

"Hold on!"

A claw came crashing down on Ruby. Brand managed to get in between just in time. He parried the claw and split Cobalt Ravager in two. Aiming the barrels at the chest of the Grimm, Brand unloaded his shells into the alpha. It staggered back as Brand ducked, allowing Ruby to jump over him and fire another round into the Beowolf. The two repeated this process until Ruby fired the last shot, cutting the alpha in half.

Brand caught his breath and reloaded his axes. He looked around to see that all the other Beowolves had ran off while Sable and Weiss were slowly stopping the spread of the fire. Lifting up his goggles, he felt a light punch on his shoulder.

"Nice job!" Ruby smiled. "You actually make a good leader."

"Uh! Well! I wouldn't…" Brand scratched his head.

"Well, that's the last of the fire." Sable put his bow back on his back. "Not a bad way to beat the heat."

Weiss was behind him along with multiple frozen trees around her. "You. Dolt!"

"Oh no," Ruby said.

"You're just going to let your messes get cleaned up by other people?!"

"Hey! I didn't start this fire!"

"Well perhaps if you had exercised even the slightest amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!" Weiss yelled back.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I'm just surprised that someone who talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!"

"Well, I'm sorry you need my help to win a fight! I'm just fine on my own."

"Well, congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak your way into Beacon!" Weiss started to walk away. "Bravo!"

Brand and Sable just stared at them.

"That didn't go well…" Sable chuckled a little bit before glancing at Brand. "You going to talk to her?"

"Why me?" Brand asked.

"You care more…" Sable took out his book and followed Weiss.

Brand sighed and looked at Ruby. "Hey, Ruby?"

"Argh!" Ruby cut down a nearby tree in anger and walked away.

"Okay…" Brand just followed, not noticing a giant black feather falling from behind him.

* * *

Aurum and Grei crossed over a small pathway of rocks along a stream. They hadn't had an encounter with a Grimm as of yet, so it was especially boring for Aurum. The silence continued on until Grei spoke up.

"So… where are you from, Aurum?" the gray haired boy asked his newfound partner quizzically.

"Hm?" Aurum snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, Atlas."

"Hey, I'm from Atlas, too." Grei smiled lightly at the tidbit of knowledge.

"Cool," Aurum chuckled. He tried to put on a surprised face even though he already knew most of his partner's personal details. "You study at Atlas?"

"I did for a little while. I transferred here because one of my supervisors recommended me to Beacon."

Aurum thought about what the gray haired boy said. _'One of his supervisors...'_

The original plan for the Atlas Military was to keep Grei in Atlas for containment. So why'd someone send him to Beacon? Of course, if Grei went to Beacon, he wouldn't be able to do so without supervision, and that's where Aurum came in. The soldier thought of the whole situation as odd. He was pulled out of his reverie once more when the boy in question suddenly stopped.

"Hey, do you hear that?" Grei whispered cautiously.

Aurum strained his ears a bit. He could hear growls from the distance. Grimm definitely, but this growl had a deeper tone, and more guttural.

"Let's go!" Aurum said before he broke into a sprint. Grei followed close behind as Aurum activated his thermal sensors. His contacts glowed orange.

"I'm detecting four Ursas in the vicinity as well as two humanoid figures," Aurum explained to Grei as they neared the area.

Grei readied his weapon. Arriving at the scene, the duo spotted two of the bear Grimm that were rearing to attack two girls. One of them had black hair with a ribbon tied upon her head, and the other was blonde with long and messy locks. Two Ursa bodies already lay on the ground beside them. Aurum assumed that those girls had killed them but there were two more.

Grei was the first to jump in. He dashed behind one of them and delivered a swift downward punch to one of its legs, knocking the creature down to its knees. As he deployed his blades, they split open and formed a barrel structure. Grei leapt back before open firing at the Grimm's head. The Ursa let out a weak pained cry before it dropped dead.

The other Ursa raised its paw and was about to attack the blonde girl. Aurum stood in between them, blocking the Grimm's strike and pushing it off. He then transformed his shield into an ax and swung it downward onto its skull, dealing the final blow.

Aurum stood up straight and exhaled. Looking behind him, Grei and the two girls were staring at him.

"We could've taken 'em," the blonde said as. Her eyes widened in recognition. "Wait a second. You're the guy from before! The one who thought I was someone else."

Aurum froze in place. _'Crap. That was her?!'_

"Well, we can properly meet this time." The blonde beamed. "I'm Yang and this is Blake." She pointed to the black haired girl beside her.

"Au-Aurum…" the soldier said nervously. He then felt a nudge on his shoulder. It was Grei. "Oh! And this is Grei."

"Hello." Grei raised his hand.

"Yang, we should keep going," the girl named Blake reminded her.

"Oh yeah! Of course!" Yang glanced at the two boys. "We should stick together! Makes fighting Grimm a lot easier."

"Sure…" Aurum nodded, a bit of hesitation evident.

* * *

"It's definitely this way… I mean, this way! It's definitely this way!"

Brand watched as Weiss walked back and forth, pointing at different directions each time.

Weiss sighed. "Alright. It's official. We passed it."

Sable, who was sitting against a tree, laughed from behind his book. "Hey, Blue. Don't you have one of those navigational thingies?"

"A compass?" Brand took one out. "Well, yeah. But for some reason, it's not working."

Brand tapped the glass of the device. The pointer went haywire.

"It's fine! We don't need that. I can lead us to the temple," Weiss said confidently.

Ruby, who was sitting down, stood up. "Why can't you just admit you have no idea where you're going?"

"Because I know exactly where we're going. We're going… to… the Forest Temple!" Weiss argued back.

Ruby groaned.

"Oh stop it! You don't know where we are either!"

Brand had already tuned out their voices. He stared at his compass in curiosity. It had never broken down until today. Was it hit during the fight? No. That's impossible. His aura would've protected it. So why was it-

 ***click***

The pointer suddenly stabilized. Brand looked at the direction it was pointing at. In the distance, he spotted a Grimm. However, it didn't seem like a normal Grimm. It was standing on its two legs and almost looked human. It had large claws and a deer-like mask on its face complete with antlers. Its gleaming red eyes pierced into Brand's. However, when Brand blinked, the Grimm was gone.

"I'm. Not. Perfect!" Weiss screamed. "…not yet. But I'm still leagues better than you."

She then started walking away from Ruby.

"You don't even know me…" Ruby whispered.

Brand checked his compass again. This time it was working. Luckily, Weiss had already started moving in the right direction.

Sable closed his book and stood up. "We done?"

"Yeah, let's go…" Ruby said sadly. "Brand? You okay?"

Brand snapped back. "Oh! Uh… yeah! Weiss is actually heading north right now. We should catch up to her."

Ruby sighed. "At least your partner's not a huge meanie."

"Hey, it'll get better." Brand grinned. "I hope…"

"Don't hope, my friends." Sable put his arms around them. "Hope is a cruel mistress."

* * *

Meroch and Ace made their way through a bush and out of the forest area. In front of them was a small podium with moss covering the structure. The visible part of the temple was circular in form with individual pedestals lining it. Each pedestal had a chess piece on top of it. Half of the pieces were gold while the other was black. Some of them were already gone.

"I guess we weren't the first ones here." Meroch said.

Ace went up to a white bishop piece and held it up. The chess piece shined in the sunlight.

"Pretty…" Ace smiled.

"Not a bad choice." Meroch examined the bishop.

"Meroch!"

Meroch turned around to see Aurum and a guy with gray hair standing on the ridge along with two girls.

"I'm guessing this is it," the girl with the blonde hair said.

The four of them walked up to the pedestals to choose their own pieces.

* * *

Aurum looked at the piece in Ace's hand before she hid behind Meroch.

"White bishop, huh?" Aurum found another white bishop and picked it up. "I guess we'll go bishop too. That alright, Grei?"

"Why not?" Grei smiled.

Yang and Blake walked up to them with their chess piece, a white knight.

"You guys got yours?" Yang asked.

"Good to go!" Grei grinned.

"So Aurum…" Meroch scratched his head. "Who are these people?"

* * *

Harmon followed Malko past the brush and into the open.

"Great. More kids…" Malko slid down the hill and landed with a bow. "Sup bitches!"

Harmon carefully went downhill. He looked at the group of students that had gathered around the temple. "Hi everyone…"

* * *

Ruben and Avery made their way through the brush.

Avery sighed. "We're lost, aren't we?

"Hm…" Ruben had taken his propulsion units from his boots and was tinkering with it along the way.

"Can't you just fly up and see where we are?" Avery asked.

"The stability isn't guaranteed, Aves. I can only fly for a few seconds before I lose balance and plummet to my death," Ruben explained.

"Those are some useless rocket boots..."

"Hey! That's why I called them propulsion units! Besides, they're still in the alpha testing phase."

"Sometimes I just can't understand you…"

Silence fell between them before Ruben decided to speak.

"Hey, Aves?"

"Hm?" Avery glanced at him.

"Are you angry?"

Avery stopped walking. "No, I'm Avery."

Ruben deadpanned at the response.

"Look, just forget about it, Ruben," Avery said. "I know I owe you a lot… and I will make it up to you!"

Ruben smiled back. This was the Avery that he knew.

"AAAAAAAHHHH"

They suddenly heard a scream nearby.

"Is that a girl?" Avery asked.

"Let's go, Aves!" Ruben put on his propulsion units and sprinted towards the source of the scream.

The two ran until they arrived at a cave in the side of a cliff.

"It's coming from there…" Ruben said.

The screams echoed inside the cave before a red haired girl came running out.

"Pyrrha?!" Avery said.

"Run!" Pyrrha yelled.

The cave behind Pyrrha burst open. A large Deathstalker scuttled out of the hole with a blonde boy hanging from its tail. Apparently, the screams were coming from him. Ruben and Avery readied their weapons.

"Is that Jaune?" Avery asked.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried while being flailed around. "It's not the relic! I-it's not! Do something!"

Ruben nodded. "Avery! You and Nikos keep Mr. Scorpion busy! I'll fly up and get the blonde!"

Ruben readied his rockets. "Jaune! I'll get you! Just don't let-"

The Deathstalker then swung its tail, flinging Jaune off to the distance.

"Go…" Ruben watched Jaune fly. "Great."

"Uh, guys?" Avery stepped back from the angry Grimm. "What now?"

"Just run!" Pyrrha ran away along with Ruben and Avery.

* * *

"Ruby!" Weiss screamed. "I told you this was a terrible idea!"

"We're fine! Stop worrying!" Ruby replied.

"I am so far beyond worrying!"

"We're almost there!" Brand held on tight as the giant Grimm bird they were hanging onto buckled to the left. He had his goggles on tightly.

"I am loving this idea so far!" Sable shouted.

"What do we do now?!" Weiss asked.

"Let's jump!" Ruby answered back.

"What are you?! Insane?!"

Weiss looked forward and saw that Ruby had already jumped. Brand followed as well.

"Oh you insufferable little-"

* * *

Aurum looked up at the Nevermore. It seemed like it dropped a few things… people! Before he knew it, a girl with red hair came falling down from the sky. She didn't make it to the ground though. A guy with blonde hair came flying in and hit the girl, knocking them to the trees.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Blake asked Yang.

"I…" Before Yang could finish her sentence, a boy in a blue trench coat crashed into the ground. He stood up and lifted his goggles as his body glowed blue.

* * *

"Brand?" Yang said.

Brand pulled up his goggles and noticed Yang was standing at the temple along with a couple of other people he didn't recognize. "Did any of you see Ruby?"

"Oh she 'dropped' by alright," a guy in a yellow coat laughed.

Brand turned around as an Ursa came out of the forest. There was a pink explosion behind it before the Grimm fell down, revealing a girl with orange hair riding on its back.

"Yee haw!" The girl stumbled down the large Ursa. "Aww… it's broken!"

A guy in a green uniform came out from behind the Grimm, panting. "Nora… please… never do that again."

Brand turned around to see that the girl had already grabbed herself one of the relics.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" she chanted.

Brand walked up to them and examined the pieces.

"Wait a minute…" He picked up a black rook. "Oh, what the hell?!"

They were the same pieces Ozpin had sent him to retrieve from the top of the mountain. Brand sighed and put the rook in his pocket.

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Brand heard someone ask.

"I-" Yang began to speak but was interrupted by a loud screech.

* * *

"Keep going!" Ruben screamed at the top of his lungs as the Deathstalker followed closely.

They managed to reach a clearing with the temple straight ahead of them.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted.

Avery overtook Ruben as the Grimm swung one of its pincers forward and snapped at them. Ruben's rockets let out a burst of flames, boosting him through the claw. He could see a couple of people ahead of him staring back.

* * *

"Brand!"

Brand heard Ruby call him. She jumped down from the tree she landed on.

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed.

"Yang!" Ruby said back.

"Nora!" The girl who rode in on an Ursa suddenly appeared between them.

"This is a very weird day…" Brand said.

"Did they just run all the way here with a Deathstalker on their tail?" Some girl with a black bow asked.

"Urgh! I can't take it anymore!" Yang shouted. "Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

Everyone gathered together and stayed quiet for two seconds.

"Welp!" A guy with an orange beanie tapped Yang on the shoulder. "Two seconds, hot stuff."

"Brand?" Ruby said.

"Yeah?" Brand replied.

"Where's Sable and Weiss?"

* * *

"How could they leave me?!" Weiss shouted.

"Look, all your problems will fade away if you just jump!" Sable yelled back.

"I am not jumping!"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Sable grabbed Weiss by the arm.

"Hey! What are you-"

"Say **'WEE'**!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Close enough."

With a single tug, Sable sent the both of them flying towards the ground. He could see the temple getting closer and closer. At this point, Sable didn't know how he and Weiss were going to land.

* * *

Meroch watched as two people fell from the Nevermore.

"Oh no…" Brand said. "They're falling."

"Hold on!" Meroch ran forward until he was directly beneath them. He spun his chakrams, creating a wind tunnel for the falling teenagers.

Brand watched as a wind tunnel slowed Sable and Weiss' approach. Suddenly, Jaune came flying out of the trees. He caught Weiss in his arms before realizing that he had pushed her out of the wind tunnel. They fell until Weiss landed on Jaune's back with a crack.

"My hero," Weiss said sarcastically.

"My back…" Jaune moaned.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Sable exclaimed from Brand's side. "Mommy, can I go again?!"

Brand looked over to the three being chased by the Deathstalker. The Grimm swung its pincer and knocked all three of them to the temple.

"That hurt," Ruben said.

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang said.

"Not if I can help it!" Ruby let out a battle cry as she dashed towards the large Grimm.

"Ruby wait!" Brand ran after her.

The Deathstalker managed to hit Ruby before she could attack. She landed on the ground with a thud.

"D-don't worry! Totally fine!" Ruby stood back up.

The Deathstalker was getting closer. Ruby can't fight this on her own. Brand took out his axes and took a shot behind him, boosting himself forward. He parried the Grimm's attacks and fired at its face. However, the shells couldn't penetrate the thick bone armor covering it.

"Ruby, run!" Brand turned around and ran away from the Deathstalker together with Ruby.

* * *

Sable watched as his partner ran away from the oversized scorpion. Tapping Yang on the shoulder, he spoke.

"Let's go, Blondie!" Sable took out his bow and ran at full speed.

Yang followed close behind. Looking up, he noticed that the Nevermore was right on top of them. It stopped flying and shot out a bunch of projectile feathers. The feathers penetrated the ground in a straight line, blocking their path. They also hit Ruby's hood and pinned her to the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted. "Get out of there!"

"I'm trying!" Yang's sister screamed.

Brand tried tugging on Ruby's hood but it was firmly planted onto the ground.

"Brand, watch out!"

Looking back, he noticed that the Deathstalker was right behind them. It held up its tail, with the stinger, and sent it down. Brand held his arms out and closed his eyes.

* * *

Sable let out a sigh of relief. His ice arrow managed to freeze the tail in time but the perks should really go to Weiss who dashed in right on time and froze the Grimm's legs. Luckily, the stinger was inches away from Brand's face.

"You are so childish!" Weiss started saying.

"Weiss?" Ruby said.

Brand opened his eyes to Weiss' voice.

"…and dimwitted and hyperactive and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Weiss pulled her sword out from the ground. "…and I suppose… I can be a bit… difficult. But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be a bit… nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off. I want you to know I can do this." Ruby said.

"You're fine." Weiss walked away.

Ruby smiled as Brand cut off a part of her hood that was attached to the ground.

"What did I say?" He held his hand out and helped Ruby up. "It'll get better."

"Thanks, Brand."

"Uuuuh…" Sable was looking at the Deathstalker. "Guys! It's breaking its way out of the solid water!"

"We need to get moving then…" Brand ran towards the temple.

* * *

"Guys, that thing's circling back!" Harmon looked at the Nevermore.

"What are we going to do?" Jaune asked.

"Well, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Weiss pointed at the chess pieces.

"She's right." Ruben said. "Our objective is to get one of these artifacts and make it back to the cliffs."

"Yeah. There's no point fighting these things." Ruby told everyone.

"Run and live! That is an idea I can get behind!" Jaune smiled.

"Pussy," Malko taunted.

"Alright. Everyone grab a piece!" Grei shouted.

Each pair went up to the pedestals and grabbed their pieces.

"Hey, has anyone seen Melo? Dark, brooding fella?" Sable asked.

"Guys!" Melo's voice came from the forest. He ran out along with Mond with numerous Ursa and Beowolves on their tails.

"Aw… Melo brought friends!" Sable grinned.

"That is a lot of Grimm…" Ruben stepped back.

"Guys, let's go!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby!" Brand called out. He was standing on top of a small, nearby hill. "There's a couple of structures over this hill. We can use them as cover!"

Ruby nodded and followed Brand. She turned around and gestured for everyone to follow.

"Mond! Grab one!" Melo yelled.

Mond jumped, grabbed one of the pieces and landed with ease. The two followed the rest. There were now twenty teenagers running away from Grimm. Brand didn't know what to expect but he knew that this was going to be one hell of a fight.


	5. Chapter 5: The Verdant Battle

**Chapter 5: The Verdant Battle**

Twenty students of Beacon Academy made their way to the ruins of an abandoned temple and took cover behind it. Gray pillars lined the area leading to a cliff where a couple of bridges connected to a tower in the middle of the pit, leading to the mountain on the other side. The Nevermore flapped its wings and landed on the tower, letting out an ear piercing screech.

"Well, that's great!" Yang sarcastically remarked behind one of the covers, readying herself and her weapon, Ember Celica.

Suddenly, the Deathstalker from before burst out of the trees.

"That's even better!" Jaune cried out.

Behind the Deathstalker rushed in dozens of Ursas and Beowolves, as well as a two headed King Taijitu.

"Let's go!" Ruby began making a run for the bridge. The others followed suit.

The Nevermore flew up from where it was perched and began firing feathers at the area. Each one of the students dodged the projectiles. Nora retaliated back with her grenade launcher, pelting the bird with explosions.

Ruben shifted Sanguis Spike into its sniper form and began shooting the area around its face.

The Grimm recoiled in pain and took to the skies, circling the area as it eyed its prey.

"We can't fight them all at once!" Avery yelled. She looked back at the mob of Grimm stampeding their way towards them.

Grei examined the surroundings.

"The tower!" he pointed towards the structure at the center of the pit. "We can try to get on top of it and use it to land hits on the Nevermore!"

The Deathstalker had managed to close in and snap its pincers at Mond and Ace. Ace drew her Krov into swords and parried the scorpion Grimm's assault, while Mond had flipped onto its back and began clawing at it. The pair immediately backed off from the dazed Grimm.

Brand looked at the countless monsters that were on their way. "Some of us need to keep those Grimm from getting near the others while they attack the Nevermore!"

"Consider it done!" Ruben ran towards the Grimm. "Aves, let's go!"

"We'll help!" Harmon and Malko followed their trail.

"To battle then," Aurum said as he, Grei, Meroch and Ace stood beside the others with their weapons drawn.

The Deathstalker had managed to push the rest of them onto the thin bridge over the deep pit. However, it could only cry at them in frustration as its body structure was too large for it to cross the already weathered stone bridge.

"Incoming!" Melo shouted as another Grimm rammed itself into the bridge. The center gave way, crumbling and falling into the pit.

The new Grimm sported a long serpentine body and multiple bony legs that jutted from its sides. It also bore sharp pincers on its mouth, much like that of a centipede. It crawled along the walls of the chasm as dirt crumbled down.

"Oh no." Mond gulped as he looked on at the serpentine Grimm. "Something's down there!"

Brand examined the Grimm. "Looks like a Ground Dweller!"

The situation wasn't good. Ground Dwellers were known for having an extremely thick bone exoskeleton. Of course, since most of the bone was focused on its hide, the underbelly was its weak point. Unfortunately, it had its belly facing the walls of the chasm as it continued scurrying across.

Brand noticed that he, Ruby, Weiss, Nora, Jaune, Sable and Melo managed to reach the middle tower but Pyrrha, Ren, Blake, and Mond remained on the other side to fight the Deathstalker.

"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!" Jaune said.

"Let's do this!" Nora smiled beside Jaune.

"Yeah. But uh…" Jaune looked down at the chasm. "I can't make that jump. Besides, I don't want to be eaten by that." He pointed at the Ground Dweller.

"Squirrel boy!" Nora called out.

Mond turned around and gave a thumbs-up. At that moment, Nora transformed her grenade launcher into a hammer and smashed the already broken bridge beneath her. The bridge flipped forward and launched Jaune and Nora into the air.

The centipede Grimm lunged up from the chasm and went for them, baring its fangs. Mond leapt high into the air before plummeting towards the Grimm's head, sending it back down with kicks from both of his feet. Nora, still airborne, had managed to slam the Deathstalker with her hammer

Enraged, the scorpion Grimm flailed its pincers in front of them. Blake had stepped too close and was pushed into the pit. At that moment, the Ground Dweller chased after her. As she plummeted down, she readied and threw her weapon onto one of the pillars that was still intact. A black ribbon was attached to it and allowed her to swing back up to the surface.

Sable aimed a fire arrow at the centipede Grimm and fired it. The small explosion knocked the centipede away from Blake as she flew up to the Nevermore and delivered a couple of blows. She used the boost to leap onto the top of the tower where everyone on that side had gathered.

* * *

The eight teens were the only ones who stood between these Grimm and the rest of their friends.

"You shits got a plan?" Malko asked as he readied the strings of Charlotte's Web.

"Hit 'em hard." Ruben smiled as he transformed his sniper into its sword form.

"Oh, this is going to be fun…"

The Beowolves led the assault in the front line. Aurum shifted Radiant Shard into a sniper and planted bullets in several of the Grimm's head. The boy could feel an enemy rushing at him from the side as his semblance kicked in. Before he knew it, an Ursa had already closed in on him with its arms reared for a powerful swipe. Aurum quickly rolled to his backwards as his weapon shifted back into an ax. He retaliated at the Grimm with a swift slice, lodging his weapon into the beast's side.

"Sayonara, sucker!" the Atlesian soldier said through grit teeth as he pulled the trigger on his weapon. The Ursa was sent flying away in an explosion of fire dust from the ax's blade.

Meroch and Ace began barraging a pack of Beowolves as they threw their weapons back and forth, weaving in between the Grimm.

Grei leapt high up into the air as he started floating. Releasing the blade form of the Hound's Fangs, he suddenly shifted his gravity to plummet straight down. Rearing back his right arm, he stabbed at an unsuspecting Ursa with extreme force. There was nothing left of the Grimm's head within the crater he had made.

As Ruben propelled himself forward with his rocket boots, he swung at the heads of two Beowolves, knocking them down. Avery finished them off with an explosive charge of flame as she coated herself within the fires from her weapons.

Malko launched his strings at a group of Grimm and pulled them in with ease despite their large stature. Harmon drew Relentless Harmony and made an overhead swing, finishing off the bunched up beasts.

From his peripherals, Grei saw the King Taijitu slither forward, ready to take them on.

"We'll handle this! Keep the other Grimm off our backs!" Grei told Ruben, who then nodded.

Aurum, Meroch, and Ace followed Grei to the large two-headed snake.

"Split up!" the gray haired boy ordered. They began circling the snake Grimm in pairs.

Meroch and Aurum aimed for the white head, while Ace and Grei aimed for the black one. The white head hissed and lunged forward, its fangs pointed at them.

Aurum picked up speed as he leapt high onto the serpent Grimm's white head. As he ran along its long body he released Radiant Shard in its ax form and wildly swung at its back, the blades coated in more fire dust. He quickly jumped off to safety as he let off an explosion after the fifth hit.

Meroch followed suit as he dashed onto the same side of its body, his chakrams attached to the soles of his feet. He skated along the length of its serpentine body until he reached the same area the Atlesian solider assaulted. Meroch kicked himself off and sent his chakrams on both feet flying, one to the open wound and another to the head.

He landed safely with a light grunt, his weapons reappearing in his hands. He turned to the writhing Grimm, agitated at the sudden burst of pain. The other head hissed and lunged for Meroch.

 _'You're leaving yourself wide open.'_ he thought as he merely rolled away from the attack.

Ace spun Krov in its shuriken form and threw it up high. Grei leapt into the air with tremendous force and speed, grabbing the thrown weapon. He abruptly stopped as he positioned himself properly for a second.

Without pulling anymore stops, he shifted his gravity with Krov's blade as the center. He plunged the weapon into the beast's other skull and sent it straight into the ground from the sheer force of his fall, another sizable crater beneath him. He swiftly pulled out as Ace jumped back into the fight.

Retrieving Krov from the Grimm's skull, she ran onto its body and released it into its twin blade form. She spun the blades down the Taijitu's body, leaving gashes. Grei switched his weapons into their blade forms and began slashing and stabbing at the exposed belly.

"Sandwich!" Grei shouted as he and Ace stood beside the white head for the final blow.

Meroch and Aurum readied their weapons and charged at the black head. Meroch hit it and knocked it up with his chakrams in hand, while Aurum transformed Radiant Shard into a shield and coated it with fire dust. He charged and slammed its skull with heavy force, sending it flying.

Grei retracted his blades into its gauntlet form. He reared his right fist back, and immediately punched the head forward. The two heads collided and burst apart.

The group looked amongst themselves as they tried catching their breaths.

* * *

"Alright! Avery, piano guy, cover the others!" Ruben ordered. "Strings! You're with me!"

"It's Harmon!" he corrected as he cut an oncoming Beowolf in half. He turned and dashed to Avery.

Two Ursas and a dozen Beowolves were rushing towards the King Taijitu that was already fighting the others.

"You have fire dust on that thing?" Avery asked.

"Indeed." Harmon smiled before playing a few chords. Fire shot out of Relentless Harmony in consecutive bursts. Avery dashed and grabbed at the flame, combining it with her own. She charged at the Grimm, releasing more fireballs at each one of them, knocking them down.

Harmon dashed forward and slashed at an Ursa, staggering it. He fired a blast of wind dust, pushing the Ursa into Avery, who burst through it with her flames.

Ruben boosted himself into the air and thrust at several Beowolves with Sanguis Spike in spear mode. He lunged and stabbed one through its chest and leapt over it. Using his momentum, he threw the Grimm lodged onto his weapon at several more. He changed targets and threw his spear into another one. An audible roar of pain was heard as he gestured to Malko.

Malko attached his strings to the same Grimm with Ruben's spear jutting from its back and pulled it towards him. He lifted his foot and kicked the spear right through. Picking it up, Malko threw the spear back at Ruben

As he caught it, he turned Sanguis Spike into its sword form. Propelling himself forward, Ruben bombarded an Ursa with multiple slashes. It crashed on its back with an loud thud.

Malko whipped a couple of Beowolves with the strings from both his arms before wrapping it around the arms of a large one. With a powerful heave, he pulled them apart and ripped the limbs right off.

"You guys need some help?" Ren appeared behind him, as well as Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora. They noticed the fallen Deathstalker behind them.

"We'd appreciate it, yeah." Ruben said.

* * *

Brand looked on at the flying Grimm as it circled around unharmed even after taking several of Blake's hits. Looking to his left, he found Sable, Melo, and Mond standing alongside him.

"It's tougher than it looks," Blake remarked after landing onto the platform.

"Then let's hit it with everything we got!" Yang readied her shotgun shells, an audible click signaling it was locked and loaded.

Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Yang took their place near the summit of the tower while Brand, Sable, Mond, and Melo stood on the platform below.

Ruby fired her sniper, Weiss shot out ice blasts from her sword, Blake emptied her clip, and Yang used fire blasts. At the same time, Melo sent a couple of small fire bombs flying while Sable fired fire arrows at the bird. The Nevermore had managed to dodge the hail of fire it was given and rammed itself into the tower.

The rocks crumbled and began collapsing on top of the boys. Melo weaved in and out of the shadows as he dodged the falling debris. As he surfaced beside Sable, he grabbed his arm and threw him at an intact platform further below them. Mond had managed to jump out in time, clinging onto another nearby pillar.

However, Brand had gotten caught underneath the rubble. Several rocks shifted as he broke through unharmed. He peered down and saw that the other three boys had fallen to the lower levels.

The Ground Dweller had come crawling back around. It let out an earsplitting screech and launched itself at Mond.

"Uh-oh."

The squirrel faunus leapt onto another platform as the large Grimm crashed into the pillar. He had landed on the side of the wide column holding up the main tower. Looking up, he saw that the Ground Dweller had begun climbing the pillar, towards where the girls were standing.

Letting out a battle cry, Brand charged forward as he connected his two axes into one and leapt at the Ground Dweller.

The impact forced the Grimm to fly off and crash into the wall. Brand held on for dear life as the Grimm scaled the sides of the pit once more.

"Hold on!" an alarmed Sable yelled out. He faced his close friend. "Melo! Boost!"

Melo nodded as he charged balls of wind dust in both of his hands. He ran past Sable and jumped down into the fray. Melo released the wind in his left hand behind him and threw the one in his right hand to Sable who then jumped and was propelled forward by the wind.

As he launched himself towards Brand and the centipede Grimm, he transformed Final Whisper into its melee mode. He landed haphazardly atop the Ground Dweller's spine. He looked around until he found an opening in between the exterior and stabbed the exposed flesh. The Grimm cried out in pain as it sped up.

"I think you made it angrier!" Brand shouted as he clung on with Cobalt Ravager. Sable could only keep his weapon lodged in order to hold onto the death ride.

"Mond Torpedo!" the glowing Mond yelled as he crashed into the Ground Dweller at full force, sending it into the side of the cliff. However, it wasn't enough to bring the large beast down. The Grimm burrowed through the ground as the three boys held on for their lives.

Melo jumped onto a nearby pillar and looked at the hole the Ground Dweller had formed. He charged balls of fire dust in both hands and held them together.

 _'Wait… wait…!'_ The fireballs grew bigger and bigger as Melo's hands glowed bright orange. _'Now!'_

Melo launched a wave of fire into the hole. The flames spread throughout the Grimm-made tunnel and hit the Ground Dweller from behind. It was forced out of the ground and into the air with Brand, Sable, and Mond on its back.

Mond jumped off and landed on the side of a pillar. He glowed as he bounced off and hit the Ground Dweller in the bone armor with both of his fists, sending it crashing once more into the wall.

Sable had managed to jump off in time and landed on one of the few bridges that were still connected to the central tower. He hastily drew three ice arrows and fired, freezing the belly to the wall. Brand let go and flew towards Melo, who fired another round of wind dust at him. Brand flew and caught the Grimm in the belly, breaking the ice off and sending it up the wall. Brand spun Cobalt Ravager and fired consecutive shots at the Ground Dweller's belly as they flew in the air. Melo ran up the side of a pillar and fired more blasts of fire at the Grimm.

"How many hits can this thing take?!" Mond landed on the same bridge where Sable was as Brand and the Ground Dweller crashed into the huge pillar holding up the tower. The structure collapsed, sending a large amount of debris down the chasm.

As the smoke cleared, Brand suddenly flew out and hit the side of the cliff. He let out a grunt of pain as he held on, his weapon loosely hanging in his free hand.

"Brand!" Sable tried to get a better look. Brand held onto the side of the mini-crater as he glowed bright blue. Looking up, he saw that the Ground Dweller had recovered from their attacks and was circling the remnants of the pillar, getting ready for its retaliation.

"Sable!" He called out, splitting Cobalt Ravager in half. "Prepare as many fire arrows as possible!"

Sable got out extra arrows from the pouches on the sides of his waist and inserted them into the right hole in his quiver, infusing the arrows with fire dust.

"Melo! Accumulate as much wind dust as you can!"

Melo nodded and charged up balls of wind in both hands.

The centipede Grimm circled around once more before launching itself towards Brand to deliver the final blow.

"Now!" the blue haired boy shouted as he jumped onto the incoming Grimm. He ran across its body before leaping into the air using the recoil from his axes as a boost.

Sable and Melo both fired their dust at the Ground Dweller at the same time. The fire and the wind created a vortex of flames that lifted the Grimm up. As Brand fell, Mond jumped in. He caught the blue haired teenager by the hood and landed on the side of the cliff. Brand watched as the Ground Dweller flew above the chasm within the surging vortex of energy.

"Shoot me!" he said to the squirrel faunus as he put on his goggles.

Mond nodded and kicked Brand into the air. He caught up to the centipede as its entire body turned upside down while it was suspended in midair. Brand screamed and fired rounds of shells across the Grimm's belly. The both of them began plummeting into the chasm as fast as they had flown up.

Brand let out one last cry as he spun around with his axes, sending the Ground Dweller down the chasm. Mond jumped off the side of the cliff, caught Brand, and landed on the bridge below the girls, who had made progress with the Nevermore. They had sent it to the wall leading up to a much taller cliff and froze its tail to the temple directly below. Blake had attached her ribbon between two pillars with Ruby in the middle while Weiss pulled back at the ribbon with a gravity infused glyph. The three of them had formed a sort of slingshot with Ruby acting as the ammo.

Weiss then let the glyph go, launching Ruby towards the Grimm's head. Her scythe caught the Nevermore by the neck while she stood on the side of the cliff. The heiress immediately created gravity glyphs along the side of the cliff leading up allowing Ruby to stick to its surface.

She screamed and ran up the wall, firing the rounds in her scythe for a boost as she sped up with the Nevermore's neck firmly caught by the blade of her weapon.

A trail of rose petals followed Ruby as she and the Grimm sped up the cliff. Just as she reached the pinnacle, Ruby drew her scythe in and sliced the Nevermore's head right off.

Brand lifted his goggles and stared as the body of the headless Grimm fell into the chasm below.

"Wow…" He watched on in awe.

* * *

Ruben caught his breath as the last of the Grimm ran away. "That was quite the fight…"

He looked to his side where Avery stood with her mouth open. She was staring at something behind him.

"Aves? You okay?"

Avery spun Ruben around as the Nevermore's body fell. Ruben's eyes widened as he took out his scroll and snapped a picture.

* * *

"Brandeis Tachyon, Sable Matsuo, Melano Umbra, Mond Lychnus." Ozpin stood onstage along with the students he had called out. Their faces appeared on the big screen above the stadium. "The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team BLUS, led by Brandeis Tachyon."

 _'Wait! Me?!'_ Brand gasped.

Sable patted his partner on the shoulder while Mond and Melo smiled. They exited to the right of the stage as four more people went up.

"Avery Daggry, Ruben Crimson, Malkaush Aprikose, Harmon Rost. The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RADR, led by Ruben Crimson."

"Hmph…" Ruben pushed up his glasses. "As expected."

"Hey!" Avery socked him in the shoulder. "No one likes a show off!"

Harmon took a bow while Malko just crossed his arms. Another set of students went onstage as they left.

"Meroch Leviot, Aurum Luculentus, Grei Schimmel, Acerbus Gale. The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team GAMA, led by Grei Schimmel."

"Congrations!" Meroch fist bumped his new leader while Ace shook his hand. Aurum just stared at him.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team JNPR, led by Jaune Arc."

Team JNPR took their places onstage.

"Huh?!" Jaune pointed at himself. "L-led by?"

Pyrrha playfully punched Jaune but accidentally knocked him down.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang tucked her sister into a tight bear-hug.

Brand clapped his hands. It looks like he got himself into something bigger than he expected. He was the leader of a team now, a position he never thought he could handle. Add making a lot of friends to that. All the members of teams BLUS, RADR, GAMA, JNPR, and RWBY fought valiantly together. Brand thought each one of them was a talented fighter. He looked forward to his time with them in this school.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year," Ozpin finished.


	6. Chapter 6: Blue Skies Ahead

**Chapter 6: Blue Skies Ahead**

Sable yawned as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. It was his first day as a member of team BLUS. He didn't know what to expect, but hopefully it wasn't too boring.

He ran a hand through his disheveled bed hair and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand beside him. Sable found his partner/leader to his left, looking out the window.

Brand stood tall and had already dressed himself in their assigned uniform. The outfit had comprised of a black suit accented with a bit of gold. Underneath were a blue vest, a white polo shirt, and a red tie to finish the attire off.

Sable groggily got off his bed and stretched. The blue haired leader of BLUS noticed his teammate had roused himself. The archer spoke up first.

"Brand? You're up early."

"Oh! Good morning..."

Sable's eyes roamed around the room, more specifically towards the other occupants. Melo was fast asleep on the bed beside him. Mond, on the other hand, was almost completely sprawled across his mattress, ready to fall at any moment. He was even lightly drooling; a small wet mark was evident on his bed sheet.

"Well, I'm not waking them up."

"Uh… class starts at nine so let them sleep in for a bit." Brand headed for the door and opened it.

Sable checked the clock on the wall. It read '8:00'.

"And uh… breakfast is on the table over there. I'll meet you in class." Sable gave Brand a nod before he exited the room.

The archer looked over to the table. On it was a plate with several pans of toast, along with slices of cheese. Three glasses of warm milk sat beside the food. Sable picked up a slice of bread and bit into it. He kept chewing, a smile making its way onto his toast filled mouth.

 _'This guy ain't bad.'_

* * *

Brand examined the hallway he stood in. Six doors lined the walls from both sides. This was the dorm area for the first years. There were exactly six teams staying in this wing: BLUS, RADR, GAMA, RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL. The rest were in another part of the building.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. To be honest, Brand couldn't catch a wink of sleep the previous night. He had been worked up about leading a team. Tossing and turning in bed, he thought about how he could improve himself, physically and mentally, for their sake. Well, the breakfast was a start. For now, all Brand wanted to do was explore his new school.

He strolled across the hall and went down the staircase. He made his way out of the dorms and into the main courtyard. Beacon was lovely this morning, with the green grass and the ponds softly reflecting the sun's rays. There were only a few students making their way towards their assigned classrooms. It was still early after all.

"Mr. Tachyon!"

Brand heard someone call him. Looking to the fountain, he found the Headmaster, Ozpin, standing right beside it, drinking something from his mug.

"Oh! Professor Ozpin. Good morning," the blue haired teenager greeted with a small nod.

"Good morning to you, too. How are you enjoying Beacon so far?" Ozpin asked as he took a sip from his mug.

"It's wonderful! The campus is huge and the facilities are top notch." Brand grinned. "I can't wait to see the classes."

"I'm glad to see you're satisfied." Ozpin took another sip.

"But… are you really sure I can attend Beacon without completing combat school?" The ax wielder's hesitation grew evident as he voiced the lingering question in his mind.

However, Ozpin had only raised a brow.

"Mr. Tachyon, the requirements of this school are quite simple. You need to know how to fight," he said matter-of-factly. "And judging by your performance in the Emerald Forest, I'd say you're more than ready for this level of combat."

"Yeah, but… isn't it unfair for the others?" Brand scratched his head. "I mean, I skipped a year while the others worked hard to get here. And some didn't even make it…"

"Who said you didn't work hard to get here?" Ozpin simply smiled. "Retrieving important artifacts from a Grimm infested area isn't something just anyone can do. Even if they were just used for team building purposes."

Brand pondered on the Professor's words for a bit.

"Let me assure you that you deserve this little 'skip'." Ozpin started walking away towards the academy's main entrance. "Besides, it's not like you're not the only one who skipped combat school."

The blue haired teenager's face bore a confused expression at the man's words.

 _'What does he mean I'm not the only one?'_

* * *

"Five more minutes!" Mond whined as he buried his face into his pillow.

"Mond, we need to get going or we'll be late for class." Melo was already dressed in his school uniform. Sable leaned against the wall, already changed as well. He was reading his book as he nibbled on a piece of toast.

"Sable? A little help please?" The bomb wielder pleaded with his friend.

The boy in question simply held up a finger and pointed at the slice of bread in his mouth.

Melo sighed and turned back to Mond, tugging at his sheets in an effort to pull him off his bed. "Come on, Squirrel Boy! Class starts in ten minutes. You still need to get changed."

"I think I'll skip today's class," the squirrel boy said with his voice muffled by his pillow.

At this point, Melo had given up and walked to his best friend.

"By the way, where is our noble leader?" He asked.

"He went out early," Sable gestured to the door with his thumb.

"Well, that was nice of him to prepare some bread and cheese for us."

"Wait, cheese?!"

At the mention of the dairy product, the seemingly defiant squirrel boy sprang from his bed. He ran to the table and sniffed the plate. Grabbing a handful of cheese slices, he stuffed them into his mouth.

"You awake now?" Melo asked.

"Mmmmhmmm." Mond tried to speak with a full mouth, but only made a bunch of muffled noises before gulping down the food. He gave a wide toothy grin.

"Alright. Let's get you changed and ready for class, Mond."

* * *

Brand finally arrived at their classroom. The interior was pretty spacious with rows of seats as well as desks lining up the back, each row higher than the next. A long staircase split the room into two halves, leading down to a long desk where a globe of Remnant sat. The teacher's desk was in the center of a podium where the professor was supposed to deliver lessons. Behind it were different whiteboards displaying diagrams and information across the wall pertaining to the different types of Grimm native to Vale. Beside the desk was a golden bust of a strange man with a mustache sitting on a pedestal.

Brand noticed that only team GAMA as well as some other students had arrived. Taking a seat in the row below them, Brand glanced back at them. Meroch and Ace were focused on a textbook while Aurum stared at him.

"Yo Brand!" He grinned as he greeted his friend.

"Uh… hi." Brand noticed that Grei sat unusually far from his team. "Hey, Aurum? Is Grei alright?"

"I don't know… to be honest, I really don't care as well." the Atlesian soldier rubbed his temples. "By the way, where's your team?"

"Well, they should be-"

"Here?" A voice had interrupted and finished Blue's statement. At that moment, the rest of team BLUS came into the classroom. It had apparently come from Sable, the archer wearing a rather amused expression. They took their seats beside their leader. Sable on his right and Melo on his left along with Mond.

"Good morning to you, too." Sable said in a creepy tone.

"Uh… yeah." Brand tried to smile.

"Thanks for the cheese, Brand," Mond said cheerfully. "How did you know it was my favorite?"

"I… didn't. I just thought cheese and toast would go great together."

"Well, it was the milk that saved it." Melo closed his eyes and smiled.

Brand accepted the gratitude and looked over to the clock. "8:55? Where the hell are they?"

As the clock hit 8:57, a stout man entered the room. He had great hair as well as a bushy moustache and wore a velvet suit.

"Hello, to those who have arrived." The man stood on the podium. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Professor Peter Port. I will be your Grimm Studies instructor for this year."

Brand noticed that his face was the same one carved in gold beside the desk. Obviously, this guy's ego was bigger than his body.

"Now, why don't we start?" Professor Port cleared his throat. But before he could speak, teams RWBY, JNPR, and RADR burst into the classroom, gasping for air.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Professor Port eyed the students. "Looks like you arrived just on time. Please, take your seats so I may begin my lesson."

Team RWBY sat in the bottom row while teams JNPR and RADR went to the row above them. Brand sighed as Port began his lesson.

"Monsters! Deeeemons! Prowlers of the Night!"

 _'Oh god…'_ The ax wielder couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha! Ha!" The professor raised balled fist for dramatic effect.

At this point, Brand just pulled out a navy blue notebook from his pocket. Throughout his travels across Remnant, he had encountered different species of Grimm. Even more than those listed on the board. Professor Port had only listed six species of Grimm found in Vale. They were the King Taijitu, the Deathstalker, the Beowolf, the Boarbatusk, the Nevermore, and the Ursa. He hadn't even included the Ground Dwellers nor the Griffins yet. Brand just assumed they would learn about them later in the year.

Melo heard a loud snore before something hit his shoulder. Peering to his right, he found a certain squirrel boy leaning on him, already fast asleep.

"Mond!" the bomb wielder whispered loudly as he shook his teammate. "Mond, wake up!"

"Five… more… minutes…"

Melo tried shaking his partner even more, but to no avail. "A little help here?"

Sable was reading his book, completely ignoring him and Port. Brand was reading something else entirely on his own. The poor boy could only heave a small sigh as he edged away from the faunus. Mond's head hit the seat with a soft thud, allowing him to sleep in a comfortable position.

Brand looked at his team. It seemed like Melo was the only one who was paying attention. He then glanced at the other teams. GAMA seemed to be the most focused while the others had some issues regarding boredom. Ruby even started drawing on paper and picking her nose. Brand smirked as he decided to read some of his journal entries so he can-

"Eeeeyup!" A boy from one of the back rows suddenly stood up with his fist in the air.

 _'That was weird…'_ Brand flipped a page in his journal and read it in his mind.

 _'…it's been a rough night but I've finally reached the outskirts of Vale. I heard a good huntsman academy is located there. One of the best, even. I don't know what I'm going to do once I reach the main city. I might apply… if only students didn't need documents. Well, it doesn't matter. I've enjoyed my time wandering around Remnant. I've even tried being a huntsman what with all the jobs I took. In fact, today I stopped a Beowolf pack from attacking a couple of poor souls who were wandering through the forest. They even thought I was a real huntsman! The truth is I'm not. But being called one was the best feeling in the world. I have an even greater appreciation now for those men and women who risk their lives for the greater good…'_

"What's this?" Melo asked, genuinely curious as he pointed at the journal.

"Oh!" Brand, broken out of his reverie, lightly exclaimed as he faced his friend and teammate.

"Uh… it's a sort of travel log. I write about where I've been." Blue handed him the notebook, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"Cool…" Melo voiced trailed off in awe and began flipping through the pages. He noticed that dozens of notes were scribbled across the papers, front and back. A question came to his mind, one he voiced easily. "You've ever been to Vacuo?"

"Of course. It may be hot but the faunus there sure know how to make drinks." Brand smirked as he recalled the memories.

"Well, that's where Sable and I are from. We met at an orphanage," Melo spoke dryly.

"Oh, your parents…"

The bomb wielder tried not to remember his parents. It would rather be better if no one knew them.

"Yeah, gone." At least one of them was.

"I…" The leader didn't know how to reply. He felt a tinge of guilt for asking. Perhaps if he could open up to his teammates, then maybe they'd be willing to speak what's been on the back of their minds, too.

"It's fine, Brand. So I'm guessing you're not from Vale?" Melo interrupted his leader's train of thought, probably not wanting to depress him on the first day, in Professor Port's class no less.

"Patch," Brand replied tersely.

"Hm… that's a nice island. I want to go there one of these days."

Brand couldn't help but grin at Melo's response. He turned his attention back to the lecture.

"The moral of this story?" Apparently Professor Port had told a story while Brand wasn't listening. "A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise. So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Brand didn't raise his hand. He heard at least three traits he knew he didn't have. Melo just watched on while Sable and Mond were still busy ignoring the lecture.

"I do, sir!" A certain ice queen suddenly raised her hand from the front row.

"Weiss!" Mond snapped awake at the voice of his source of infatuation.

"Really?" Melo asked himself exasperatedly. He rubbed his temples in annoyance, noting that if he needed to keep the squirrel boy awake, he'd need assistance from Weiss or a good slice of cheese.

"Well then, let's find out." Professor Port directed their attention to a cage at the side of the podium. "Step forward and face your opponent!"

The cage shook and rattled as something inside it let out a snort. It was definitely a Grimm. If they were to fight in this classroom, Professor Port would need to have a Grimm with a considerably small stature as to not destroy the entire room. Weiss made her way out in order to change into her combat dress while Professor Port reached for his axe-musket weapon hanging on the wall.

"What do you think that is?" Melo asked no one in particular.

"Pffft!" Mond scoffed. "Weiss can handle whatever it is!"

Brand examined the cage and held a hand to his chin. ' _A Grimm of that size would have to be a Creep or…'_

Weiss briskly walked back into the room with Myrtenaster, her weapon. Professor Port stood by the cage with his musket in hand.

"Go Weiss!" Yang cheered from the row below.

"Fight well!" Blake waved a flag with the letters 'RWBY' written on it.

"Yeah! Represent team RWBY!" The leader of the aforementioned team raised her arms, cheering on her teammate.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus!" the heiress scolded.

"Oh, sorry…" Ruby's voice trailed off at Weiss's outburst.

"Alright." Port raised his ax. "Let the match… begin!"

With one swing, the cage's lock broke and the door fell down.

"Boarbatusk," Brand confirmed.

The Grimm charged forward and collided with Weiss' sword, pushing her backwards. Weiss rolled back and readied her stance.

"Ha! Ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" the professor exclaimed in excitement.

Sable heard the clang of bone and steel and looked away from his book.

"Cool, a fight." The archer grinned. "Who let Porky Pig into Beacon?"

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss dashed to the Boarbatusk and thrust her sword forward. The blade got caught in between the Grimm's large tusks as it tried to pull away. The two began pulling at each other.

"Come on, Weiss! Show him who's boss!" Ruby cheerfully continued.

 _'This isn't going to last long.'_ Brand thought as he analyzed the current situation. _'Boarbatusks are known for their leg power. After all, their main form of attack is charging in.'_

Sure enough, the Boarbatusk buckled its four feet and heaved at its opponent, tossing Myrtenaster to the wall behind it. It charged forward and hit Weiss, knocking her back on her knees. Mond stood up in shock, about to protest something, but was quickly pulled back down by Melo.

"Ho ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" The professor's question proved a challenge to the unarmed maiden on the floor.

The Grimm charged forward once more. However, Weiss had anticipated the reckless attack and rolled to the side. The Boarbatusk crashed itself onto the desk, allowing Weiss to make a run for her rapier while the Grimm remained dazed from the impact. As she picked up her blade once more, Ruby yelled out loud.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath!"

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss shouted back, frustrated at the leader's needless shouts of advice.

However, the distraction was more than enough for the Grimm to gather its bearings and ready itself for another attack. The Boarbatusk leapt into the air and curled itself into a ball, rolling towards Weiss at an incredible speed. Quickly acting, the snow haired girl generated a glyph that had caught the beast, stopping it in its tracks.

The Boarbatusk fell on its back, exposing its belly. Weiss quickly jumped up and charged up a glyph in the air. She launched herself into the Grimm, impaling it with her sword. It squealed in pain. A few moments later, the beast had stopped squirming.

"Bravo!" Port praised the girl. "Bravo! It appears that we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings. And stay vigilant!"

With those final words, the professor dismissed the class.

"I. Love. This class!" Sable exclaimed in his seat, a mischievous grin making its way onto his face.

"Assigned readings?" Mond asked, confused as to what they were supposed to do.

Melo heaved another sigh. "Don't worry, I copied them." He turned back to his leader, who was simply staring off into a certain direction. "Huh? Brand, what's wrong?"

The ax wielder watched as an upset Weiss stomped out of the room. She had no reason to get angry, Ruby was just trying to help after all.

"I'll be right back." Brand stood up and rushed to the entrance of the classroom.

"We'll meet you in the next class, then?" Melo managed to shout across the room, their leader turning around at the question.

"Sure," he replied.

"See ya soon, Blue!" Sable waved as Brand left the room. "How long is he going to stay away from his team?" the archer faced the rest of his teammates.

"I don't know. He's distant… but it's not like he doesn't care," the bomb wielder replied.

"Where to next?" Mond put his arms around the two.

"Next class, I guess."

Sable groaned. "I hope **_I_** get to kill something this time."

* * *

Brand walked out of the classroom and went down the hallway. To his surprise, Ozpin came around a corner with his cane in left hand and a mug in his right.

"Oh, Mr. Tachyon," the headmaster said. "How was your first class?"

"Oh, uh… pretty good." Brand frowned as he looked behind Ozpin, unable to find Ruby or Weiss anywhere in sight.

"Is that a dissatisfied look I see on your face?" the headmaster asked inquisitively.

"Oh! No it's just…" Blue shook his head. "There's some tension between my friends."

"I'm assuming these friends are your teammates. Do they not like the match ups?"

"No! They're fine! I was talking about someone else." Brand scratched his head lightly, remembering his new teammates. "But I guess you're right. I should be focusing on my team."

"Who said your team is all you should care about?" Ozpin gave a knowing smile at the blue haired teenager. "Yes, as a leader, your team should be your top priority, but it doesn't have to be the only one."

"I know… I just don't know how to be a good leader in the first place," Brand reasoned out.

Ozpin grinned once more. "Brand, I see before me a young man who has looked out for each and every person he cares about. Use that remarkable aspect of yours to lead. "

Brand paused; he was genuinely surprised at the complement and advice the headmaster was giving him. "Thanks, Professor. I guess I'll try to be there for my teammates... as well as my other friends."

"I'm glad you're up to the challenge." Ozpin nodded. "Oh! And I'd like to speak to you at the end of the day, after your classes are finished. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. No problem," Brand replied. The headmaster then walked off, taking another sip of his coffee.

He wondered what Ozpin had in store for him.

* * *

"Alright, how do we do this?" Melo held his chin in thought. He stood before the large library of Beacon Academy together with Sable and Mond. The room was about two stories tall with bookshelves located everywhere. Tables with reading lamps lined the path ahead.

Classes for the day were finished, so they decided to gather the books they needed to start on their first batch of homework.

"Why are we in the enemy's territory?!" Mond hissed.

"The what?" Melo scratched his head, a confused expression on his face.

"Words! Lots and lots of words!" the squirrel boy pouted.

"Can we just get it over with already?" Sable sighed, his hands tucked in his pockets. "What did Santa say we had to read?"

"It's _Professor Port_ , Sable," Melo corrected as he took out his notebook. "We need more than one book, but sure, let's start with that. We need… 'The Encyclopedia of Grimm Vol. 1'."

"I'll start near Weiss." Mond dashed off immediately as soon as the words left his mouth towards the section where Weiss and Harmon stood.

"Wait! Aw great…" The bomb user could only place a palm on his forehead.

"Looks like it's up to us!" Sable patted his best friend on the back. "So…" the archer's voice trailed off. "We're looking for Grimm, right? We need the G's."

Sable walked up to a cabinet with multiple shelves. He pulled out the one that had the label 'G'. Pulling it out, multiple index cards stood in a line.

"G… g for grapes… g for guns… ah ha!" The archer pulled out a card, a satisfied expression plastered on his face. "G for Grimm. And, the book should be around section G-14."

Melo stared in awe as Sable put the card back and closed the shelf.

"Nerd." Melo teased.

"Orphan."

* * *

"Hi, Weiss!" Mond had gotten the jump on Weiss and Harmon as they searched for their assigned books. He looked at the heiress, completely oblivious to her irritated expression.

"Not you again!" Weiss turned to Harmon, a pleading look in her eyes. "Harmon? Do something?"

The pianist laughed nervously at the request and went up to Mond. "Uh, Mond? Did you find your books?"

"Sable, Melo, and I are looking right now!" was his reply. He smiled widely at the pianist before turning his gaze back to Weiss.

"Huh." Weiss scanned the library. "Is Brand with you?"

"Oh, no. We separated right after Oobleck's class ended."

They had spent the rest of the day together in class. However, their blue leader went somewhere else afterwards, leaving the rest of his team curious as to what he was doing.

"Your leader isn't with you?" Harmon asked, concerned.

"Well, he is shy… but still!" Mond exclaimed as he tried to reason out their leader's lack of attendance with them. "He fed us breakfast and it was good!"

At that moment, Ruben had walked in. Avery strode beside him, a cheery smile on her face.

"I think we're in the wrong section," Ruben groaned, scratching his head.

"Oh, hi Mond!" Avery waved at him. "Where's your team?"

"Fire girl!" Mond smiled as he walked up to them. "Melo and Sable are looking for the books now!"

"How about Brand?" Avery had asked the same question the ice queen had voiced a couple of moments ago.

"Brand ditched his team," Weiss interjected with arms crossed over her chest.

"Don't say that," Harmon said as he tried to keep the atmosphere positive. "I'm sure Brand has a legitimate reason for separating from his team."

* * *

Brand briskly paced through the corridors. He had been all over the academy grounds, yet he couldn't find Professor Ozpin. It had occurred to him that the professor hadn't even specified a location. Turning a corner, he bumped into another person he needed to see, Ruby.

"Brand? Where are you going?" the petite leader questioned him.

"I… uh… was looking Professor Ozpin," he answered as he took the moment to catch his breath. "Have you seen him?"

"Have you checked his office?"

Blue widened his eyes, dumbfounded. _'Ozpin has an office! Right! Idiot…!'_

Brand rubbed his temples, chiding himself internally for not even thinking about the possibility that maybe the headmaster had a specified place to work.

"Thanks, Ruby! I'll see ya later." Brand was about to be on his way, when he felt something tug at his arm. "Huh?"

"Brand… do you have a minute?" the redhead murmured.

"Okay…"

* * *

"It should be ahead." Sable pointed towards the G sections of the library.

"Blake! Can you at least help me look?" The pair of boys overheard the voice of a certain blonde. They found Yang standing by a table, hands on her hips. On one of the seats, they saw Blake propped up with her eyes glued to a book in her hand.

"I already have a copy," the ebony haired girl said as she showed Yang the cover of her book, 'The Encyclopedia of Grimm Vol. 1'. Her eyes never left the contents of the large book as she conversed. "It's over there if you need more."

Yang sighed before Sable and Melo walked up to them. She seemed to have noticed and gave them a small wave. "Oh! Hey, you guys."

"Sup." Melo waved back. "You looking for the encyclopedia as well?"

"Well, I am." Yang turned to Blake with an annoyed expression. "She hasn't budged for almost an hour."

Melo looked behind the two girls. A sign above that read 'G-14' hung above the bookshelves. "Sable said it's over there."

"Alright! Let's go get it." Yang smiled and casually entered the section.

Melo started walking off as well before turning around to see Sable still in the same spot. "You coming or what?" The bomb wielder gestured to the shelves with his thumb.

"I'll… catch up." He kept his eyes on Blake and her book as he replied. "Save me a copy, m'kay?"

Melo gave a tired sigh and went to where Yang was.

The archer walked up to the ebony haired girl with a Cheshire grin. "Hey, watcha reading?"

The girl in question looked up from her book. "You saw the cover right?"

"Yeah, I did. But what I want to see… is the content!" The archer had managed to snatch the encyclopedia off of Blake's hands, revealing a novel with the words 'Ninjas of Love' on the cover. "The old book behind the cover gimmick! Classic!"

The ebony haired girl lit up and hid her book away. "What do you want?!"

"Hey, hey. What's with the hostility?" Sable raised his hands, signaling he didn't want any noise. "I thought we were book buds."

"Since when have I called you my book bud?" Blake raised an inquisitive brow at the archer, who only grinned.

"I just thought that after that little interaction we had the night before last night and, not to mention, the Emerald Forest battle, we were acquainted."

Blake just sneered at him.

"Alright. I'll leave it alone." Sable kept his arms raised, yielding to her gaze.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of reading that though." He pointed at the novel. "Sure it's content is… explicit, for a lack of a better word. But if you ask me, looking past the cover, the story it has to tell is much more intriguing."

With that, the archer strode into the G-14 section with his hands in his pockets, leaving a stumped Blake behind.

* * *

"Are things okay between you and Weiss?" Brand stood on a wide balcony overlooking the main courtyard.

"Huh? Oh, we're working on that… don't worry!" Ruby smiled faintly. "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay… why did you want to talk to me?" Brand asked while looking at the campus below him.

Ruby stood quietly behind him.

"Ruby?" Brand turned around.

"We still haven't talked about yesterday."

"Yesterday? The initiation?"

"Why were you avoiding me and Yang?"

Brand froze. He had forgotten about that whole ordeal.

"It was something about you and Signal right? When we were talking the other night…"

Brand looked down. He knew he couldn't keep it a secret for long.

"Ruby, if I tell you, promise not to tell anyone else, alright?"

Ruby nodded.

Brand exhaled. "I'm… not exactly… supposed to be here…"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I mean… I never finished Signal because I ran away." This was hard for Brand to admit. "Right now, I haven't completed my fourth year in combat school since I left in the middle of my third year."

"So you got into Beacon?"

"Yeah but… I don't deserve to be here. I haven't finished combat school unlike you, Yang, the others. I'm an inexperienced child."

"Um… Brand?"

"I skipped a year. Even without proper training, I skipped ahead."

"Uh… Brand?"

"I don't know… I just feel like it's unfair to the rest of you who actually worked hard to get here."

"Brand!" Ruby yelled.

"Huh?" Brand stopped talking.

"Brand… I was moved up two years." Ruby looked away.

"You?!" Brand took a step back. So this was the student Ozpin was talking about. "But… you… and the scythe… and the bird chop off… head…"

"I'm fifteen." Ruby smiled. "I haven't completed combat school either. Yet I'm here."

Brand didn't know what to say. He thought he was the only one. "Well… that just made me regret my entire speech."

Ruby giggled. "If that's what you were afraid of, don't be. You were fine in the Emerald Forest, you'll be fine in Beacon."

"I guess you're right. That's also what Ozpin said."

"Right, you looking for Professor Ozpin?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright. I'm going to the library. See ya!"

"See you…"

Brand scratched his head. For now, he wanted to concentrate on being a good leader and a good friend.

* * *

"This looks like the one!" Melo grabbed a large book from the fourth shelf.

"Nice one." Yang proceeded to get four copies. "…and that makes four."

Melo smiled and took three more books for his team.

"Yay!" Mond suddenly appeared beside Melo and grabbed a book from his arms. "I knew I could count on you!"

Weiss and Harmon followed Mond into the aisle.

"He's really hyper," Harmon told Melo. "I pity you the most since you're his partner."

"He's not that bad…" Melo looked at his faunus friend who was back to staring at Weiss. "Although I could use some help."

* * *

Brand walked towards an elevator at the end of the hall. The teachers he asked said this was where Ozpin's office was located. He was about to press the button when the doors opened and the headmaster, himself, stepped out.

"Ah, Mr. Tachyon. I'm sorry I wasn't specific on where to meet."

Brand scratched his head. "Nah. It's no problem. Besides, I was wondering where your office was."

"Now if you'll follow me." Ozpin walked past Brand as the elevator doors behind him closed.

Brand turned around and followed closely. They walked into the hallway where many students were passing through. Many of them greeted Ozpin who returned the gesture with a small nod.

"So where are we going?" Brand asked.

"Your parents are unaware that you're attending Beacon, correct?"

 _'Oh crap.'_ Brand started sweating. "Yeah… I kinda…"

"So you have no source of finances then?" Ozpin stopped. "Scholarships are free but I'm sure you'll need Lien for other expenses."

"I guess you're right… there aren't any huntsman jobs around here, are there?"

Ozpin grinned. "There are but I'm afraid they're only for huntsmen who have completed their training. You on the other hand… have a lot to learn."

Brand looked down.

"As of now…" Ozpin continued walking. "I'm afraid I can't give you that money. However, what I can give you is a way of earning it."

The two went outside to a garden blanketed by the dim light of the starry night sky. In the distance, Brand spotted a small structure with something glowing beside it. It was a forge sitting beside an anvil where a male teenager was pounding a sword with a hammer. He had short, dark orange hair and glasses. The white shirt, blue pants and black apron definitely had the blacksmith look.

"Working late again, Mr. Icerya?" Ozpin said. "Maybe you shouldn't wait for night to fall before starting."

The guy looked up and pushed his glasses. "Well, class all day certainly doesn't help and I get tired in the afternoon. Also, I told you: call me Pax… don't use my real name, especially in front of the first years."

Pax stood up and examined Brand. "Hm… you have big arms."

"Uh… thanks?" Brand nervously replied. _'Is this guy for real?'_

Ozpin stepped forward. "Mr. Tachyon, this is-"

"Pax! I'm Beacon's blacksmith. I fix weapons, create weapons, upgrade weapons… and occasionally build furniture." Pax shook Brand's hand.

"Brand." He replied. "Wait, you're the blacksmith? You mentioned something about classes. How old are you?"

"Nineteen! This is my fourth year here in Beacon. Been running this forge since I got here."

"I'm aware you come from Signal Academy, Mr. Tachyon. You made those right?" Ozpin glanced at the two bars hilted to his sides.

"Ooooh! May I?" Pax pointed at Brand's weapons.

"Sure." Brand took out both parts of Cobalt Ravager and handed them to the blacksmith who held them in both of his hands.

"You? Made this?!" Pax flicked the blades out and swung the axes around. "Could use some tweaks but otherwise…" the blacksmith pointed the barrel at Brand who instinctively covered his face. "…not bad for a first year. I guess Signal wins the best combat school award."

He handed both axes to Brand who put the blades back and holstered both parts to his sides.

"I'm assuming you need a job?" Pax asked.

"Yes. Starting tomorrow, Mr. Tachyon will be helping out the forge" Ozpin answered.

"Sure. I'd be happy to share some of my profits." Pax smiled. "However, he starts now…"

"What?!" Brand jumped back.

"If you insist, 'Pax'." Ozpin turned to Brand. "Have a good night Mr. Tachyon."

"Well?" the blacksmith looked at his new employee. "Don't just stand there! Help me fill in the rest of these orders."

* * *

 _'Midnight…'_ Brand sighed. Working a forge was no easy task. The fact that Pax had decided to procrastinate didn't help shorten the time. At least both of them finished repairing armor and sharpening swords as well as creating a brand new mace.

Reaching his dorm room, he slowly opened the door. The lights were off while the room was dimly lit by a lamp in the corner.

 _'Thank god they're asleep.'_

"Ahem…"

Brand looked to his right. Sable stood in his sleeping clothes with his book in his hand. "And where were you?"

"Well… uh…" Brand stuttered. "I'd… like to apologize. I know I haven't been the most responsible leader."

"Seriously? You're saying sorry for getting us breakfast? For helping us find our classes when we got lost?" Sable patted him on the shoulder. "You may be a social wreck of a leader, Brand... but I've seen worse."

"Thanks, Sable…" Brand smiled. _'Social wreck?!'_

"Now… take a shower and change. You smell like crap." Sable went back to his bed. Brand looked at the others. They were already fast asleep. He also noticed that there were books on his bed. Brand had forgotten all about the assigned readings. It was a good thing he had a team like this.

 _'Maybe this wasn't a mistake…'_

* * *

 _ **A/N: Thank you all for sticking around so far! As suggested by EnigmaProtocol (Thank you for your helpful reviews btw) this chapter, including the next two, will be focusing on one team only as to introduce their interactions and character development. Stay tuned for more DoAF!**_


	7. Chapter 7: Bad Chemistry

**Chapter 7: Bad Chemistry**

Aurum stirred as he slowly peeled his eyes open. A digital clock popped up on his contact lenses that read 7:16 AM. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. Looking over his right shoulder, he spotted his leader, Grei, already dressed in his uniform and his worn out scarf, standing on the right side of the room staring at something.

"Grei?" the soldier groggily called out.

The gray haired boy made no response, staying silent.

"Something wrong?"

Grei looked back at the Atlesian soldier and pointed at the beds in front of him. Aurum had to strain his neck in order to see what troubled the gray haired boy so.

He didn't know if he should've been surprised or worried. Atop the bed was their teammate, Meroch, sound asleep underneath his sheets. The boy looked peaceful enough. If there wasn't any actual problem, the soldier would have left him alone.

No, what was troublesome was the fact that there was large lump underneath his blanket sheet, with Ace's head popping out and resting on top of Meroch's rising and falling chest. It seemed that she had pushed their beds together, leaving no space between them.

Aurum yawned again and stood up. "Let me see."

"I just don't know if I should wake them up," the leader said anxiously.

"Mm…" Aurum responded with a low hum. He blinked once, then twice more as the program in his contact lenses booted up. The soldier stretched his arms. "Well, I didn't expect it to get _this_ awkward this fast."

"What do we do?" Grei asked.

"Why are you asking me? You're the leader." Aurum's words were tinted with annoyance.

Grei paused and slightly pulled up his scarf. "Class starts at nine."

The soldier gave a tired sigh and checked the time in his lenses. "We still need to shower, change, and eat breakfast. I'm allocating at least one hour for all of those." Aurum raised a finger to emphasize his point. "It's up to those lovebirds if they want to spend the first day cuddling."

Aurum grabbed his uniform and towel and left the room. The gray haired boy nodded at the soldier's words before turning back to his other teammates.

 _'Now, one last problem.'_

Usually, Grei would leave people alone due to his rather shy nature, but he couldn't let himself do that today. Today, he was the leader of team GAMA and it's the duty of a leader to make sure his teammates were up on time.

The gray haired boy slowly approached the slumbering pair. His eyes flickered over to Ace's face. She was breathing softly as her head rose and fell along with her partner's chest.

"Meroch…" Grei whispered as he poked at his teammate's forehead. "Wakey wa-"

The sleeping boy instinctively grabbed Grei's finger. The leader flinched in surprise at the sudden movement.

"Is it morning already?" Meroch asked drowsily.

"Yeah." Grei pulled back his hand. He pouted lightly as he rubbed his aching finger.

"Sorry, Grei," Meroch yawned. "I'm not really a morning perso-"

The chakram wielder attempted to get up, but was met with quite the resistance. Looking down at the large lump underneath his sheets, he found the head of his partner, Ace, poking out. The raven haired girl seemed intent on staying where she was, sleeping softly.

"For god's sake," Meroch groaned as he tried to squirm out of his little predicament. The boy could feel Ace's arms wrap around his neck, making his job a lot more difficult.

"Uh, should I…?" Grei's ocean blue eyes looked on at the sleeping girl, and then looked back at Meroch. The chakram wielder raised a hand at the gray haired boy as best as he could.

After a few moments of awkwardness and several squirms, Meorch successfully made his way out of bed, letting Ace's head gently fall on the cushion.

"Did she move her bed next to mine?" he asked as he straightened his clothes and got his uniform from one of the drawers.

"I think so," Grei said with a hand to his scarf.

Meroch gave a small grin. "I'm sorry. She's not used to other people. I grew up with her so she trusts me the most," he explained briefly.

"Oh," was the simple reply of the gray haired boy as he scratched his head.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll open up to you guys soon."

"Yeah," the gray haired boy smiled. "So, what do we do with her?"

"Well." Meroch grabbed his watch on top of the drawer. "We still have time. Ace likes to sleep in. I'll wake her up at 8."

"Alright. Breakfast?"

"Breakfast."

* * *

Team GAMA, without Ace, exited the cafeteria with full stomachs. On their way out, they ran into a certain bunny faunus.

"Oh, hi guys!" Velvet greeted them with a smile. "Where's Ace?"

"Still asleep. We're bringing her breakfast," Meroch answered tersely, holding up a paper bag with the said girl's food.

"Oh."

"Velvet?" a feminine voice called out from behind the bunny faunus. The currently present members of team GAMA peered behind her.

It was surprising to them, more than anything, to see an extremely well-built man whose height even surpassed Brand's, and a dark skinned boy who seemed to be blind. In front of them was a lady who exuded a lavish aura as she sashayed towards them, the other two guys right behind her.

"Hey!" Velvet waved at the newcomers. She turned back to the three boys, a cheery smile on her face. "Guys, these are my teammates, Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi. Together, we're team CFVY!"

"A team named after a morning beverage," Aurum chuckled. "Pleased to meet you."

"I see you've made new friends with the first years, Velvet." Coco pulled down her shades and sized each of them. She gave a hum of approval and nodded to herself.

"Well, actually it started with one of their team members," Velvet explained. "Who is currently asleep," she sheepishly added.

"Yeah. We better get to her before she wakes up," Meroch said. "She can be really cranky."

"Then I guess we'll be seeing you guys around," the lady, Coco, uttered. With a seemingly happy smile, she waved at them before gesturing to Velvet that they had to leave. Velvet waved the remainder of team GAMA goodbye as they left.

Once team CFVY was out of sight, they began quietly making their way back to the dorms. Aurum was the first who spoke up. "You were awfully quiet, Mr. Leader. Even the taciturn Meroch held a better conversation than you."

Grei lowered his head. "I'm… just not good with casual conversations, I guess."

"Why? You're leader now. Talking should be your number one skill."

"Leave him alone, Aurum," Meroch chided. "The results were final. Grei was chosen as our leader and I respect Professor Ozpin for that decision."

"Well, I'm just telling him how to be a **_GREI-t_** leader!" The Atlesian soldier chuckled at his own joke.

"I hate you," Meroch deadpanned.

Grei stopped in his tracks and thought about himself for a bit.

Maybe Ozpin had made the wrong decision appointing him as leader of team GAMA. To begin with, what kind of leadership skills did he even have? He was hopeless when it came to communication, much less working with others in a team. He couldn't concentrate. There was just too much pain to handle. Right now, what he needed was a breather.

Meroch and Aurum had noticed that their gray haired leader had stopped several ways behind them. "Grei?" The chakram wielder called out, his tone slightly concerned.

"Sorry, I-uh… I need a minute!" The gray haired leader turned away and took off in the opposite direction.

The pair watched as their leader disappeared from their sight.

"Was it the joke?" Aurum asked after an awkwardly long silence, his expression confused at the sudden leave of their leader.

"Go after him," the chakram wielder said as he sternly stared at the soldier.

"What? Why me?"

Meroch turned away as fast as he looked. "I'll wake up Ace. We'll meet you at the classroom. Now, go and apologize to him."

"Fine…" Aurum groaned. "You just want some time alone with Ace, don't you?"

Aurum dashed off in the direction where Grei went.

 _'Why do I have to apologize? If anything, he's the one who owes_ me _an apology…'_

* * *

Ace stood up and straightened her skirt. She had already prepared while her teammates were gone. She looked at her reflection and nodded, pleased with her appearance. Feeling a little energy seep into her, she turned to the window where the sunlight filtered in. Staring at it, she reached out and gently touched the window pane.

"I see you're awake." A familiar voice caught her attention. Turning around, she found Meroch standing at the doorway.

"I brought you breakfast." He held up the paper bag in his hands.

Ace quickly turned to their beds and pouted. "You moved the beds…"

"You have no sense of personal space." Meroch laid down the bag on the table nearby and took out a burrito wrapped in foil.

Ace immediately rushed to the chakram wielder, eyes wide with anticipation. "What is it?"

"Breakfast burrito. Just like the ones back home." He handed the raven haired girl the food, a pleased smile plastered on his face.

Ace opened the foil and took in the mouthwatering scent. The juicy beef's grease coated the cheese and egg while small strips of vegetables lined the sides inside the wrap.

"Thanks for the food!" The raven haired girl took a large bite off her meal, squealing internally at the deliciousness of the burrito.

"Thnkss…" she said, her words muffled and unclear as she continued chewing the food in her mouth.

Meroch smiled and looked around their living quarters, or to be more specific, the floor. His smile disappeared as quickly as it came as he saw the raven haired girl's discarded articles of clothing scattered across the floor.

"Did you change in here?" he asked.

Ace only nodded.

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" Meroch chopped Ace's head with his hand. "Pick up after yourself!"

"That hurt…" the girl whined while rubbing the sore spot on her head with her free hand.

"And don't change in here! There's a girl's bathroom down the hall!" Meroch sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, I'll clean this up before we leave for class. Just…"

The raven haired girl held out a burrito-free foil crumpled in her right hand. "Done."

* * *

Grei panted as he tried to catch his breath, his hands on his knees. He wiped the sweat off the side of his forehead. Despite it being only morning, he already felt like an entire day had blown past him.

Scanning his surroundings, he had found himself already outside of the academy's main building and in the courtyard. Several first year students were headed towards the entrance. Some gave a sideways glance as they passed by him, while others simply ignored him.

He hadn't known he had run that far. Why did he run? It was only the first day and already, everything was messed up. He felt like garbage for even considering that there might have been a reason why he was alive, why he was _chosen_. But clearly, his hopes were all for naught.

 _'Moving on was harder than I thought, even if it had been four years since the incident.'_ Grei cursed under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

He could feel his eyes water a bit as he bit his lip in frustration and choked back a small sob.

From a distance, the gray haired boy heard footsteps rushing towards him. He glanced in the direction, finding Aurum heading towards him. The soldier panted lightly from the early exercise as he caught up to Grei.

The Atlesian soldier took in a few deep breaths before staring at Grei straight in the eyes. "What the hell is your problem?!" His outburst made his leader flinch. He knew he had done something rude, but for his partner to be this harsh… His vision grew hazy as he felt a warmth trail down his cheek.

"First, you stay quiet like some anti-social loner, then you run away?!" the soldier added, growing more annoyed and miffed by the second. "What kind of leader-"

"No!" Grei shouted back. Aurum shut his mouth, surprised by the sudden backlash of his partner.

"What's _your_ problem?! You've done nothing but insult me since our team was formed!" Grei tried to hold back his tears, but to no avail, they began falling one after the other. "Is it because I was appointed leader?! Is it because you think Ozpin made a mistake?!"

"No! It has nothing to do with that," Aurum retorted.

"Then what?!" the leader yelled, his voice cracking. "Every time I look in your eyes, I see nothing but hatred. You might not admit it but I know… I know that you hate me." Grei gritted his teeth as anger he didn't know he could even harbor seethed through him. "So why?!"

Aurum gulped. "You… you remind me of someone who took someone else from me," he answered.

Grei laughed bitterly. "You lost someone? Well, you're not the only one. I lost my parents, my _adoptive parents_."

Aurum's eyes widened at the gray haired boy's seething words.

"I watched as they were slaughtered right in front of me. I held their bodies as they grew cold. I was the one stained in their blood!" Grei had let go at this point. He clenched his fists as he continued.

"So if you think you're the victim here, _think again_."

Aurum's contacts suddenly blinked red. It was the warning program he had installed that monitored the aura parameters and condition of his target. Grei was beginning to grow unstable. The soldier attempted to draw Radiant Shard's blade, but found nothing sheathed on his side. He mentally cursed, remembering that all the students had left their weapons and equipment back at the lockers under school regulations.

Aurum turned around. "Professor Port's class is at nine. I'll see you there." The soldier walked away in silence, deciding to stop their conversation before a fight broke out.

Grei watched as his partner left with his head down. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he gritted his teeth. He wasn't meant to lead.

* * *

Team GAMA exited the classroom along with the other students. Meroch brought up his watch and checked the time. Class for the day had finished and all that was left were their assignments.

"Alright, what do you guys-"

"I'll see you guys later." Grei cut off the chakram wielder halfway. He turned walked to the left, leaving his team behind.

"I need to let off some steam." Aurum did the same, walking off to the right.

With two members gone, Meroch and Ace were left behind at the front of classroom's door.

"Oh boy." Meroch sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What's with them?" Ace asked innocently.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

* * *

Grei propped himself on one of the benches outside the food court. The wind gently breezed through green leaves as he glanced at the empty blue sky. It didn't have to be like this, and yet it seemed that life still wasn't done messing around with him. All he wanted to do was fit in and be the best huntsman he could be. He never intended to lead a team; he wasn't good with other people. He already had difficulty befriending students and staff from Atlas, and he expected the same thing in Beacon. He compared himself to the others whom he knew had been chosen as well.

Brand gave off a natural leader vibe despite his intimidating demeanor. Ruben was an intellectual who could strategize and adapt with the help of his team. Ruby bore the ambition and determination to become a leader. Heck, even Jaune was capable because of his kind nature towards his friends.

 _'I'm the only one who doesn't make a good leader…'_ He mulled the thought over and over again until a familiar Valkyrie had called out to him.

"Gray!" Nora skipped over to him carrying a small brown paper bag. Ren trailed not too far behind. Grei smiled a little bit at the nickname she gave him.

"Hey guys," Grei looked up from his seat. "How's the team?"

"Oh! It's super awesome!" Nora raised a fist to emphasize her point. "Ren's a great partner, Pyrrha is _very_ polite, and Jaune… Well, he's Jaune! Plus they give me their leftovers!" Nora held up the brown bag.

Grei's smile faded.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Ren asked.

Grei stayed quiet before speaking up. "You know, I just remembered I left something in the…"

"Hey guys!" At that exact moment, Ren and Nora turned to see Jaune waving at them. Pyrrah, Avery and Ruben stood beside him. "We're gonna head to the library to get the books for the reading assignment."

"Yeah!" Nora answered back.

"Grei, why don't we…" Ren turned back to Grei, but the gray haired boy was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Aurum grunted as he landed punch after punch on the sand bag hanging on a pole in front of him. Luckily, Ms. Goodwitch had been kind enough as to let him use the training hall, a large stage several levels below the rows of seats. The wide area was used for sparring sessions during her combat class that morning, although they didn't do much fighting because of basic orientation regarding the rules and what not to touch without her permission.

The Atlesian soldier followed a certain routine to sharpen his skills. After all, it was a requirement when he was part of the squad. He had changed from his uniform into a dark yellow tank top and black jogging pants.

After throwing a straight with his good arm, he paused for a moment and accessed his contact lenses.

 _'6:05 PM. I guess I still have time for a few more rounds.'_

Aurum turned his attention back to the sandbag. The soldier released a swift jab-straight combo onto the thing, this time with more force. He steadily got into a rhythm as he started weaving from side to side while jabbing at his target.

His thoughts drifted to the conversation he had with Grei earlier. _Did he really lose his parents like that?_ The soldier wasn't sure about his choice of words. He could have been a bit more levelheaded about the situation, but he chose to let his emotions get the better of him. Well, naturally you would be angry at the person who took the life of someone you cared about… right?

 _'If only Grei knew. If only he knew about Dawn, then he would understand. Why can it never be that easy?'_ His superiors assigned him to Beacon in order to monitor Grei, which meant that revealing the true potential of his powers to him was a no-no. The damage he could do... could consume the entire campus, and then some.

Aurum felt energy rush through him. He sped up his punches and applied more force. He exhaled with each attack, shifting his weight with every straight. He delivered a long winding combo filled with jabs, straights, and haymakers. With a final rush of adrenaline, he connected with a swift uppercut, tipping the sandbag over with a loud and heavy thud. The soldier panted as he held his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"Whoa."

Aurum heard someone's voice behind him. Turning around, he found a certain fiery blonde girl staring back at him, eyes wide in awe.

"Yang?" Aurum said.

She was wearing an orange tank top with black shorts. Black fingerless gloves also covered her hands. As always, her yellow hair flowed down, gently touching her shoulders.

"Hi!" Yang waved. "So… anger issues?"

Aurum looked at the bag on the floor. "No, it's just…" His voice trailed off.

"Well, it'd be best if you didn't destroy Glynda's stuff." Yang walked over to the fallen sandbag and propped it back up.

"I'm sorry, what are you doing here?" Aurum asked.

"Same as you." The fiery blonde pulled back her fist and thrust it into the punching bag, blowing it backwards. She caught the bag with a palm as it came swinging back. "A good work out!"

Aurum smiled. He still had to get used to being around the girl.

"So," Yang continued, leaning against the bag. "What's got you so riled up?"

"Nothing… it's nothing."

"Goldie, you almost killed this poor soul." Yang patted the sandbag. "I wouldn't say that's nothing."

Aurum smirked, albeit bitterly. "It's Grei. I don't understand why he was chosen as our leader…"

"Well, Aurum. I've had similar issues in my team. Remember what happened this morning?"

The soldier nodded. Right, Ruby and Weiss had a fight. "This is different."

"I know, but the circumstances are the same right? Ozpin assigns the most unlikely leader, said leader has an argument with another member, leader questions his slash her position."

Aurum stood still, pondering on what the blonde had said. In a way, Yang was right.

"Yeah, but it's a lot more complicated than what you described."

 _'She doesn't know what Grei did.'_

"Aurum. My point is… it's the first day! You can't expect everything to fall in place right away," Yang concluded. "Even I need time to adjust to my really quiet bookworm of a partner. You need more time too."

Aurum looked down. Thinking back, the file indicated that Grei had no memory of creating a black hole. Maybe that was just an accident. And Dawn being Dawn, she tried to save him. It was her choice.

"Anyway," the fiery blonde crossed her arms, her voice taking on a mildly serious tone. "You've taken much of my work out time, so…"

The blonde brawler lifted the punching bag and brought it to the side.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Aurum asked.

"Well, a moving target is more of a challenge than some old bag filled with sand!" Yang grinned as she faced Aurum and got into her boxing stance. "You up for this, Goldie?"

Aurum smiled back. "I should warn you, I'm a trained Atlas soldier."

"So bring it General Blabber!"

Aurum rushed forward and threw a right hook. Yang reacted fast and ducked under his arm, aiming to retaliate. The soldier's semblance activated at once. The brawler was going to use the opportunity to hit low, right in the stomach. His reflexes kicked in as he raised his right leg and blocked Yang's attack. With a grunt, he kicked Yang away. The brawler stumbled, but quickly readied herself once more.

"Hey! I thought we were boxing!" Yang laughed.

"Well, you didn't really specify the rules." Aurum smiled.

Yang rushed forward with a battle cry. Aurum readied his fists.

* * *

"So, Fox here uses his ears to fight," Coco explained. "So even if he can't see, he basically still can."

The red haired student smiled and blinked, leaving a glimmer in his eyes.

"Echolocation." Meroch held his chin in thought.

He and Ace had met up with Velvet and her team as the pair was making their way back to their quarters. Team CFVY's leader, Coco, had warmly invited them to join them for a warm cup of coffee and talk the night away. They had decided on staying in one of the vacant lobbies for the second years, sinking into the comfort of large green couches and cushions.

"So, how'd you two meet?" the bunny faunus asked.

"Um, well we sort of grew up together," Meroch answered, sheepishly scratching the side of his face.

"Yeah. His family took me in when I was still a baby," Ace continued.

"Well, isn't that lovely. Friends since childhood. I've seen a couple of romance movies with that sort of premise," Coco commented as she pulled down her shades to look at the both of them.

Ace blushed and looked away. Meroch just lowered his head and smiled.

"Well…" The chakram wielder paused and looked across the room. He spotted a certain gray haired student looking around. Grei inevitably looked at their general direction. As soon as they made eye contact, the boy made a run for it.

"Hey, I'll be back real quick." Meroch got up from his seat and left, chasing after their leader.

"Roch, wait." The raven haired girl reached out but her partner was already gone. She blinked in confusion.

* * *

Aurum, with a yellow towel around his neck, took a couple of gulps of water from his canister. Exhaling, he felt a soft punch on his back.

"Nice sparring sesh! We should do these more often," Yang cheerfully said.

"I could, if you weren't such a sore loser. Literally." The soldier poked a small bruise that had formed on Yang's right shoulder, making her flinch back in pain.

"Well, your semblance doesn't exactly make it fair." The brawler merely pouted. "I'm going to change and head to the library. I promised Blake I'd help her look for the books we needed."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about those." Aurum had a small grin on his face. It's been a while since he felt like this. It was like he was with Dawn again.

"So, are you going to talk to your leader?" the blonde inquired.

"Hm?" Aurum snapped out of his thoughts.

"Grei. He's your leader Aurum. He needs your respect as much as you need his." Yang hung her orange towel around her neck and started leaving.

 _'Maybe she's right…'_

 _"_ Oh! And, I've been meaning to ask… _"_ Yang stopped at the door and looked back at Aurum. _"_ Did you find who you were looking for _?"_

 _"_ What _?"_

 _"_ You know, the girl that apparently looks like me."

Aurum paused and smiled. "Yes… yes I did."

* * *

"Grei!" Meroch called out as he ran after his leader who sped down hallway after hallway. Both of them had bumped into several students along the way. Turning a corner, Meroch looked around for any sign of the gray haired boy.

However, it seemed that Grei had disappeared into the crowd.

Meroch breathed a tired sigh as he cursed under his breath.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch walked over Ozpin's desk and placed a couple of files on it. She had filled folders with all of the first year's teams and sorted the individual students in order. Fixing her glasses, she turned to leave. Suddenly, she heard the elevator ring.

"Back so soon, Professor-"

To the teacher's surprise, a certain gray haired student had walked out of the doors. Grei bore a panicked look as he scanned the office.

"Mr. Schimmel, is everything okay?"

"Where's Professor Ozpin?" Grei asked.

"He's out handling business regarding Mr. Tachyon. What do you need?"

"It's…" Grei gritted his teeth, frustration evident in his voice. "I want to resign as the leader of team GAMA!"

"Hm?" Glynda pushed up her glasses.

"I'm not the one for the job. Even Aurum or Meroch would make a better leader than me! Maybe not Ace but… I don't have what it takes." The boy had his fists clenched and head lowered throughout his brief explanation.

"Mr. Schimmel, Ozpin's decisions are final. Are you aware why?"

He looked at Professor Goodwitch, hesitant to even ask about the headmaster's reasons for choosing him out of everybody else in the team.

"Because Professor Ozpin is always sure about it," the teacher concluded with a soft smile. "He may have made many mistakes but I wouldn't doubt his decisions. I've seen firsthand that his choices yield good results."

"Until now…" Grei looked down once more.

"Look, I would gladly change your position as leader, but if Ozpin chose you, it would mean he saw something in you. Now, before you make any hasty decisions, I would suggest you consult your team first. They're your team for a reason."

The gray haired boy paused and mulled over Goodwitch's words. He thought them over, realizing that his actions had only proven how selfish he had been the entire day. He had been a coward, only running away from the problem instead of taking it on head on while using his incapability to properly communicate as an excuse.

No. He was a leader now. He can't have excuses.

He looked back up to his teacher. "Thank you, professor. I'll keep that in mind." He smiled lightly as he turned back to the elevator.

"Oh, and Mr. Shimmel."

Grei stopped in his tracks and looked back.

"If you run into Professor Ozpin, please inform him that he has paperwork to do." Glynda tapped the files on Ozpin's desk.

Grei nodded In reply and walked out.

* * *

Aurum wiped his head with his towel. After taking a bath, he had changed into his sleepwear and was on his way back to his room. He was thinking about what to tell Grei on the way back until finally, he arrived at the door. What was he going to say? What would his leader do afterwards?

For a moment, Aurum hesitated until he mustered up the courage to open the door.

Inside, Ace and Meroch were sitting on the latter's bed. The pair was facing a rather serious looking Grei, as he stood several ways from them. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Aurum

"Take a seat, Aurum." Meroch motioned for Aurum to sit beside him. The soldier complied.

Grei inhaled and turned around, sitting one of the beds across the room.

"Okay. First things first… I want to apologize for avoiding you and ignoring you guys the whole day." Grei paused, checking to see his team's reactions. Meroch bore a contemplative expression, along with Ace who simply nodded at the apology. Aurum, on the other hand, had his head down.

"I want you to know that it's not because I hate this team, but because I was unsure if I was the right person to lead it."

Aurum looked at the pair beside him. Ace was leaning on Meroch's arm, listening intently to Grei.

"Now… Aurum?" The soldier in question looked up at his leader. "I'm sorry for losing it at the court-"

"No!" Aurum stood up and cut in. "You shouldn't be the one apologizing! I was the one who pried into your past. I was the one who was insensitive. I'm sorry for getting angry at you, even if I didn't know you that well."

The soldier's sudden outburst and apology took the rest of the occupants of the room by surprise. Grei looked down, and then back at his team again.

"That's another thing. I guess you guys deserve to know how I got here."

Grei explained his entire story. His told them about how he had been found and raised by his adoptive parents who were dog faunus. He told them about how the White Fang had involved his village in their shady operations, and how the Atlas military had sieged the village in hopes of destroying the terrorists. The gray haired boy continued up to the time he had arrived in Atlas, how he had studied there for the past years, and how he had gotten a recommendation to Beacon Academy.

He let out a tired sigh as he reached the end of his story.

"Whoa…" Meroch stared at their leader in slight awe.

"Your parents were killed by the White Fang?" Ace had moved beside Grei and grabbed ahold of his hand with her own, a look of sympathy in her eyes.

"Yeah…" Grei gave a small nod.

"Well… the last time I was abandoned, somebody found me." Ace looked at Meroch. "He took me in and I became part of his family. So let us do the same and let you become part of ours."

Grei looked at his team and smiled.

 _'Family, huh?'_ He might have lost everything but that doesn't mean he has no future. He had a team that needed him, a _family_.

"I may have been a better leader, Grei," Aurum stood up and held out his hand. "But trust me when I say you're a stronger person than me in every way."

The gray haired boy took his hand and shook it, his smile growing slightly bigger.

"Well!" Aurum raised his hands. "Now that the drama's over, we can finally return to our regularly scheduled program!"

The soldier walked over to his bag and pulled out two bags of chips and a huge bottle of soda. "Anyone up for some snacks?"

"Me!" The raven haired girl moved forward raised her hands.

Aurum gasped. "She spoke to me!"

"Don't push it." Ace grabbed a bag of chips from Aurum's hands.

"Isn't it a school night?" Meroch examined the bottle of soda.

"Yeah, but…" Aurum looked at Grei and held out a bag to him. "We should celebrate. For GAMA!"

Everyone else looked on at each other before grinning widely. "For GAMA!" they shouted.

Grei smiled. He hasn't felt this happy in a long time. Maybe it was time for him to break out of his shell. It was time for him to be the leader everyone thought he was.

To be the huntsman his parents always knew he could be.


	8. Chapter 8: Undetectable Circumstances

**Chapter 8: Undetectable Circumstances**

Harmon enjoyed mornings where he woke up to the sight of the bright sun and the sound of birds chirping. He looked forward to mornings like these. However, unfortunately for Harmon, today was the first day on the team with **him**.

"Aprikose!" a rather enraged Ruben yelled. The leader of team RADR struggled as he tried to free himself from the web of strings that entangled him.

In the corner of the room, Malko watched the rest of his team squirm underneath the strings he had woven around their beds before they had woken up.

"Don't… don't struggle…!" Malko tried his best to talk in between snickers, only for him to break out in laughter. "It only gets worse!"

"Argghh!" Avery tried to reach for her flame pellets atop the desk that was beside her bed with her free arm, but to no avail. After a third attempt, she conceded with a tired huff.

Harmon just silently hung upside down from the ceiling, completely expecting this sort of situation. He had already experienced Malko's sadistic form of humor before in the Emerald Forest, but he wondered if his new teammates could handle the puppeteer and his antics.

"As your leader, I command you to release us from our bindings!" Ruben ordered.

"Did you just make the sentence 'Let us go.' more complicated?" Malko answered back.

"Please," Avery pleaded.

"Mr. Aprikose, I believe we've all had our fair share of fun," Harmon spoke up. "Would you kindly release us? Otherwise we would be late for class. And Ms. Goodwitch wouldn't like that, would she?"

Malko wiped a tear as his laughter died down. "Alright, alright. I was just messing around. And for the record, I'm not afraid of Ms. Goodbitch."

With a smile, he motioned his hands backwards, and Charlotte's Web started to retract. Halfway through, the puppeteer felt an unnatural click within his weapons.

"Uh oh," he gulped. "Looks like it's jammed." Malko only chuckled nervously.

"Oh for the love of-!" At this point, Ruben was visibly fuming.

"Geez, relax! Don't get your underwear in a twist. Oh wait."

Malko gave the strings several light pulls in hopes of it slowly retracting. He tried again several more times, but still nothing happened. The puppeteer gradually grew impatient at the lack of results. With one last tug, he fixed the jammed mechanism.

However, the strings suddenly reeled back and retracted with tremendous force. The furniture, along with the rest of team RADR, flew across the room and landed with a loud and painful thud.

"Ouch…"

* * *

Harmon wiped the sweat from his forehead and examined the room. It was tidy enough, almost as if their predicament never even happened.

"That took a while," Malko said. "But I'm glad we-"

The puppeteer was cut off as Ruben grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him against the wall. "You're lucky you didn't break anything! If you ever do something like this ever again, I'll make sure you can't walk."

"Hey, hey. What's with the hostility, supreme commander?" Malko only laughed as he grabbed his leader's arms. "Now let me go and say you're sorry."

There was a short pause before Ruben gently released Malko from his grip. "I'm… sorry…"

"Now punch yourself in the face and-"

"Hey!" Harmon grabbed the puppeteer's shoulder and pulled him away from their leader. "That's enough!"

"What… what was that?" Ruben staggered back. "Did you… did you mind control me?!"

"Sort of. Yeah," Malko grinned.

"Oh that's it!"

"Ruben!" Avery called out as her leader stormed out of the room. The fiery girl followed her friend out the room.

Ruben stopped in the middle of the hallway. "I am telling Professor Ozpin to kick him out of our team, Aves! I mean, this guy is just too much!"

"Hey, I admit," she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Malko scares me, too, alright? But I want to see him in a new light. It's our first day as a team, I want this to work!"

"Avery…" The normally feisty girl gave Ruben a serious look. After a few more moments of silence, the red haired scientist only sighed and smiled.

"You're always so positive about everything. But someday you're going to realize that the world isn't as bright and sunny as you imagined it."

"Guys!" Harmon dashed out of the room. "I'm afraid we're going to have to settle our issues at a later time. For now, we need to get changed!"

Ruben and Avery looked at each other and realized that they were both still in their sleepwear.

"What time is it?" Avery asked.

"8:45," the pianist answered.

"Class starts at 9:00! We need to move!" Ruben ordered.

* * *

"How much time do we have?!" Avery said in between heavy breaths as she and her team ran through the hallways in their uniforms.

"Five minutes!" Harmon answered back. The pianist skidded on his shoes as he made a sharp turn.

"Just keep running!" Ruben yelled in panic.

They were approaching the end of the hallway, when all of sudden teams JNPR and RWBY burst out of their rooms.

"To class!" The redheaded reaper yelled as she took off into a sprint. The rest of her friends followed suit.

"Well I'm glad we're not the only ones!" Malko chuckled as he picked up his pace.

"We're going to be late!" Jaune cried.

* * *

The three teams had burst through the door of their classroom with some of their uniforms already mildly disheveled, having arrived in the nick of time.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The stout teacher standing on top of the podium eyed the students. "Looks like you arrived just on time. Please, take your seats so I may begin my lesson."

"Let's go guys." Ruben gestured for his team to head to their seats. Team RADR sat a row above team RWBY and right next to JNPR.

"Ah, Professor Port…" Malko sat down a crossed his arms as he leaned back on his seat. "The legendary Teller of Tales."

"Teller of Tales?" Harmon turned to his partner, confused at the remark.

Professor Port cleared his throat. "Monsters! Deeeemons! Prowlers of the Night!"

"Oh."

"Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names… but I merely refer to them as prey. Ha! Ha!" Port held his left hand in a fist for dramatic effect.

Ruben glanced around the room. He observed that teams GAMA and BLUS had been punctual. Well, they weren't the ones who try to one-up him all the time. He looked beside them, at team JNPR.

 _'Lucky Nikos. You have a functional team at least.'_ He wondered why Jaune was chosen as leader instead of Pyrrha, but he was just glad that he was able to lead a team, however bad the members were. _'Well, member…'_

From the corner of his eye, he noticed that a certain trouble maker had already dozed off with his hands behind his head as Harmon sighed and sat up straight, while Avery was trying her best to pay attention to Professor Port's lecture. The fiery girl was vigorously taking down notes.

Ruben sighed inwardly and closed his eyes.

 _'I guess I'll worry about us later.'_

* * *

As soon as Professor Port's class had ended, the lunch bell had rung. All the students slowly filed their way out of the room.

"That class was crazy," Malko said as he stretched his arms. "Guess team RWBY's disbanded now."

"Hey, Ruby was only trying to help," Avery retorted. "Besides, we need help as well."

"Why are you looking at me?" Ruben noticed that everyone was staring at him. He sweat dropped at the glares they were giving him, his partner in particular.

"I think we should spend more time together, you know? Get to know each other better? So… lunch?"

"I agree. Cooperation and communication are important aspects of a functioning team," Harmon answered.

Both of them immediately turned to Malko. He sighed.

"Sure, whatevs. I'll behave."

"Ruben?" Avery looked at her leader with big eyes.

"Fine!" The red haired scientist held out his hand to Malko. "I suggest we forget about this morning and focus on the future of this ticking time bomb that is a team."

The puppeteer gave a Cheshire smile and grabbed the hand with full force. "Very well. You respect me, I respect you in return."

* * *

Team RADR took up a table near the end of the cafeteria. Each member had their own emptied plate and satisfied faces.

"That was good." Avery smiled as she placed a hand on her stomach

"Eat too much and you'll gain weight." Ruben pushed up his glasses.

"Oh, you did not just tell a woman she's fat!"

Harmon laughed along with Malko.

"Alright. What else do you want to know?" the girl asked. Throughout the meal, Ruben and Avery had been telling the rest of their team about Mistral and their time at Sanctum Academy.

"Maybe one more question." Malko leaned back on his seat and crossed his arms. "Are you two a thing? Or…"

"No!" Avery abruptly stood up at the question, blushing and waving her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry." The spectacled scientist pulled his partner back down tow her seat. "What she meant to say was that she's not interested in forming that sort of relationship with me. I also feel the same. Science is the only lady for me."

Malko chuckled. "Wow, you're a nerd. Yeah, Avery, you're better off with someone else," he said with a wink.

Avery just looked away with a spark in her eyes.

"Moving on, Harmon?" Ruben called out. "You're actually the one I haven't heard much of yet."

"Oh." Harmon wiped his mouth with a napkin and placed it down. "What is there to say?"

"That piano sword!" Avery exclaimed. "Does it actually act as a piano or is it just for show?"

"Well, obviously, it has to act as a piano. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to perform."

The girl gasped. "You can perform?!"

"How good are you?" their leader asked.

"Well…" The pianist gave a hesitant pause. "Concert level." Harmon answered.

"That's my partner!" Harmon cringed as Malko gave him a rather strong pat on the back.

"Where do you perform?" Avery asked.

"I have performed in the Atlas Academy stadium as well as other convention halls."

"Really?" Avery rubbed her chin. "I keep up with the musical industry. I mean I've heard of singers like Weiss Schnee or musicians like Kousay. I'm sorry I haven't heard of you."

"It's perfectly fine, Ms. Daggry. Unlike Ms. Schnee, I take to the background. I'm sort of an accompaniment for hire."

"You can call me Avery. And… are you okay with that? Not being noticed for your talent?"

Harmon simply smiled. "I am completely satisfied with my position. Besides, I have people who acknowledge me. They're all I need."

"Like Weiss?" Malko nudged his partner. "You two seem close."

"Hey, you keep talking about pairing us up. Don't you have someone, Malko?" Ruben chucked at his small retort. However, he stopped when he noticed that the member in question stayed silent, bearing a dark expression.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Sensitive question?" Avery had a concerned look on her face.

"No… it's fine." The puppeteer decided to stand up at that moment. "Come on, let's get to class. Just an afternoon to go."

The rest of the team just stared as he left their table.

* * *

The bell rang as students flocked out into the courtyard. Team RADR was headed towards the library to collect the books they needed.

"We still need to unpack," Ruben groaned as he rubbed his temples.

"Might as well get the books on the way." Avery giggled.

"Hey guys!" The four members turned to face the petite leader of team RWBY.

"Oh, other Red," Ruben said. "What's up?"

"Have you seen Weiss? I… need to talk to her."

 _'Is this about this morning?'_ Harmon thought.

"Sorry, we haven't. But we'll tell you if we do see her," Avery answered.

"Oh, okay. I'll just be in the library." Ruby walked away with a downcast expression.

Ruben pitied the girl. For her to end up teammates with a Schnee was probably fate messing with her. Once they knew the reaper was out of earshot, the red haired scientist heaved a sigh.

"I don't know. If you asked me, I'd say she deserved it. Typical Schnee."

"Ruben!" the fiery girl hit his head. "She's our friend, and you need to be nice."

"I guess they haven't settled matters yet, huh?" Malko commented.

"Guys, you can go ahead," Harmon spoke up. "I'll catch up, okay?"

"Harmon? Where are you going?" Avery asked.

"I just need to check on my weapon. It needs regular maintenance or it'll sound like scratching an old chalkboard."

"Okay then," their leader said.

Malko bit his lip and furrowed his eyebrows as he watched his partner head back into the campus.

* * *

Ruben and the remainder of his team were nearing the cafeteria. The library was supposedly around the corner. They were walking down the road to the doorway when they had met up with two members from team JNPR.

"Pyrrha!" Avery gleefully waved her hand at the girl.

"Avery! Good to see you again." Pyrrha smiled back at her. She glanced beside her friend, finding a rather creepy looking individual wearing an orange beanie staring at her. "Um… Hi?"

"I heard you're some big shot from Mistral. You look more beautiful than your picture on the cover of that cereal box." Malko gave the champion a mischievous smile. Pyrrha shuffled her feet at the puppeteer's words.

"Well… I don't like to boast but…"

"Malko! Play nice." Avery smacked the back of Malko's head. The latter grimaced as Avery faced Pyrrha once more. "How's the first day for you guys?"

"We were just at the cafe grabbing a bite!" Jaune, the newly assigned leader, replied. "Are you guys heading for the library?"

"Yeah! Why don't we go together?" Avery suggested.

"Mmmm…" Ruben, with arms crossed, groaned

"Ruben…" Avery gave him a disappointed look. "Stop it with your childish competitions."

"If it's all the same, Ruben," Pyrrha said in a comforting tone. "I think you're quite outstanding in the field of science."

All of them turned to Ruben for an answer. He just remained silent, giving Pyrrha a big pout before exhaling in defeat.

"Fine, let's go…" However, the red haired scientist stopped in his tracks before they continued. "Wait. Where's Malko?"

* * *

"I knew you'd be in a place like this." Harmon approached the snowy haired girl who stood near the edge of the balcony with her hands on the rail.

"Harmon?" Weiss said. "How'd you find me?"

"Multiple balconies and a lot of luck." Harmon leaned on the railing and smiled. "I noticed you and Ruby had a fight today."

"Oh, stop it!" Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "I should've been the leader. I'm much more capable than that childish brat. I talked to Professor Port and even he couldn't say anything nice. I just… I want to make a difference as a huntress, and I can't do that if I'm not in charge."

Harmon only gazed at his friend with a knowing look.

"Nothing. Nothing you can say will convince me that I can't be a leader."

"I understand."

Weiss gave a bitter smirk. "Do you really? I mean it's not like you aimed to be a leader in the first place. Heck, you're satisfied with your team right now. How can you possibly understand my situation right now?"

The pianist faced the horizon, in the direction of the city of Vale. "All my life, Weiss, I have been behind some of the greatest singers in Remnant. Not once have I been the center of attention."

The ice queen's eyes widened at Harmon's words. After a brief pause, the pianist spoke up once more.

"And that's okay, because the music I create makes someone else's voice sound even more beautiful. You don't have to be the leader to make a difference. You can be a good teammate and help your leader be even better than she realizes… That's who you are, Weiss. You're just as important as the rest of team RWBY."

A smile graced Weiss's lips. Suddenly, the pianist found himself in a tight grip. The ice queen had wrapped her cold arms around him.

"Thank you, Harmon."

The boy felt a chill go down his spine at the heiress's touch. "No… problem…!"

After a few more moments, Weiss immediately let go. "Oh no! I have to apologize!"

"Ruby's in the library."

"Alright then! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Weiss immediately grabbed Harmon's hand and led him out.

* * *

"Wow…" Avery gazed in awe at the vast expanse of shelves filled with thousands of books.

"Um," Jaune scratched his head. "Do any of you happen to have a list of the books we need?"

"Right here." Ruben pulled out a slip of paper where he had written the names of the books they were required to have in numerical order.

Avery let out an audible hum as she grabbed the list. "Why don't we start with 'The Encyclopedia of Grimm Volume 1'?"

"Okay," Pyrrha said as Avery handed her the slip of paper. "We can split up and get the second book."

"Oh yes!" Avery's face lit up and raised a fist in the air. "We get the books for each other and meet up for the rest! It'll be faster that way. Ren, Nora, do you mind getting the third?"

The pair that had accompanied them to the library stood beside her.

"I believe we can do that." Ren answered.

"Let's GO!" Nora enthusiastically shouted.

"Nora! Inside voice!"

"Right. Sorry."

"Alright." The red haired scientist nodded in agreement. "I just wish we were an actual complete team." Ruben complained.

* * *

"This way!" Weiss pulled Harmon into the lobby of the library.

"My word… Beacon is well supplied with literature."

"Come on, we need to find Ruby."

"Aren't those your teammates over there?" The pianist pointed over to a certain pair, one who sported bright blonde locks skimming through the shelves and the other who wore a neat black bow over her ebony hair flipping through a single book.

"Oh!" The ice queen ran up to the blonde, panting. "Yang!"

"Weiss? Hi." The friendly brawler tucked a book underneath her arm and waved at the heiress with the other. "Just in time. Blake and I are still looking for some books. Do you think-"

"Have you seen Ruby?!" Weiss asked hurriedly, cutting Yang off midsentence.

"She went ahead to the room to get a head start on the first reading assignment," Blake answered as she flipped another page, her eyes never leaving the text. "We're still trying to find the missing ones."

"Oh…" The snowy haired girl looked downcast. She felt a hand lightly placed on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you can talk to her later. Let's try and finish this before the library closes alright?" The pianist beamed at the ice queen as he tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah." Weiss smiled.

* * *

"I can't believe our team is reduced to two people," Ruben grumbled exasperatedly as he and Avery walked down an aisle of bookshelves.

His partner stayed quiet, a few footsteps behind him with her hands behind her back. The scientist picked up on his best friend's awkward demeanor. "Aves? You're awfully quiet."

"Oh, what?" Avery snapped out of her thoughts before shaking her head. "It's just… why don't you like Pyrrha, or even Weiss?"

Ruben stopped in his tracks and sighed again. "Aves, isn't it natural for one to be jealous of those who have accomplished so much more than him? I guess… I'm just disappointed in myself."

"What? No, Ruben." The normally loud and feisty girl was oddly quiet as she stepped closer to her friend. "You're amazing. I'm sure you've done some great things in your life."

Ruben chuckled sarcastically. "I'm not good at fighting, which leaves my semblance almost useless in combat, and I rely too much on my tech which can't even function normally." He pointed at the rocket modules attached to his boots.

His words grew heavier each time he opened his mouth. "Look at Pyrrha. Excellent in combat, studies, attitude, looks… She's the perfect student. Then there's Schnee. Her family's company has been Remnant's primary source of dust for as long as I can remember. She bears a reputation that precedes her as the heiress of a powerful establishment. And even if she wasn't like that, she's still more capable of becoming a huntsman than I ever will."

Ruben inhaled, then exhaled deeply. Without even knowing, the young scientist was trembling with clenched fists.

"Aves, the reason I came to Beacon is to better myself. A system of education that I think is far more superior to anything Mistral has. I'm the heir of Crimson Labs. I have to bring something back that would make my family's company stand out in the world. They're all counting on me."

"Us," Avery said as she stared into Ruben's eyes.

"What?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"They're counting on us. You're not going to do this alone." The cheery girl beamed at Ruben as she placed a hand on her chest. "You have me and the rest of your team."

Ruben felt his hands loosen as he grinned at his partner's words. He pushed up the frame of his glasses with a finger. "Very well then. Step one in my brilliant plan to conquer Remnant! Get through class!" He cheered as he raised his fist in the air.

"Shhhh!" Everyone around them shushed the pair.

"Sorry. Library. Right." Ruben whispered.

Avery silently giggled. She always liked Ruben when he was in his mad scientist mode.

* * *

Malko sped past the rooftops of Beacon Academy. Using his strings, he attached himself to the side of a building and swung across the large gap. He had checked the locker rooms, unable to find Harmon there.

 _'Where is he?'_

Adjusting the balance of his body in midair, he landed on the roof of the dorm building with ease. The puppeteer keenly looked down at several students who were entering the structure.

This was the dormitory for the second years, where he was supposed to sleep this year. He wondered if his team was still there. The thought was snuffed out after he had checked each of the rooms as he swung by them.

 _'They've probably dropped out…_ ' Malko clenched his fist in mild frustration until it loosened at the sight of one particular person. Moving closer to the edge of the roof, he peered down below. A faunus with bunny ears followed her team and entered the dormitory. Velvet Scarlatina.

Malko closed his eyes and remembered his biggest mistake, almost as if it was just yesterday. He balled his fists and gritted his teeth harder this time around. Hopefully she had recovered. Her smile was a distant memory for Malko. To see that same smile on her face again… It made him grin. As they disappeared into the building, Malko snapped back to reality. She would never forgive him for what he did. He remembered her cold stare, the look of horror she had on her face…

As he was taken away in handcuffs.

* * *

"Argh…" Ruben groaned under the stack of books in tow. He, Avery, and Harmon, having met up in the library and getting the necessary reading materials, had decided to head back to their dormitory. It wasn't long before they had made it back to their room. "Do I really have to carry your books?!"

"Well that's what a gentleman would do." Avery smiled with the light number of books she held close to her chest. The trio turned a corner. "Besides, Harmon's not complaining."

The said pianist followed with the same amount of books in his arms. "That's because I'm too exhausted to converse."

"Where's Malko anyway?! That mongrel has been nothing but trouble all day!" the scientist blurted.

"I'm sure he's gonna come back. Here we are." Avery opened the door to reveal Malko sitting on the bed and playing with the strings on his right hand. She squeaked a little and jumped back.

"Hey guys…" Malko pulled back his strings and stood up from his bed.

"Why you…!" A series of thuds echoed across the room as Ruben dropped his books and went after Malko.

"Ruben!" His partner shrieked as Harmon dropped his stack and grabbed their leader by the arms.

"Can we please be civilized about this?!" Harmon shouted as he held him back.

"Where were you, huh?! Is that what you're going to do for the rest of the year?! Mess with us then ditch us?!" Ruben gritted his teeth. "What are we?! Some source of entertainment?!"

"That's what I wanted to talk about." Malko bore a stern expression as he faced his teammates.

Ruben stopped resisting before Harmon loosened his grip.

Malko sighed before speaking up. "I've decided I want to take this seriously. School, I mean... and I can't do that without your help."

Harmon smiled. "You may be a short tempered person who acts without a thought, but when it comes to being honest with yourself, it takes you an unbelievably long time."

Malko smiled back.

Avery joined in and nudged her partner who then rolled his eyes.

"As long as he never uses his semblance on us as well as his… knitting yarn," Ruben said.

"I'll have you know that these 'yarns' can pull apart bone and sure... I'll try to find something else to entertain me." Malko answered.

Holding out his right hand, Ruben spoke. "Welcome to the team."

Malko took the handshake. "I thought I was already part of the team."

"Not to me... but now you are."

"Aww!" Avery held her cheeks. "You're so cute!"

"Aves." Ruben backed away and pushed up his glasses, turning red. "Never. Ever. Call me cute!"

"Aw come on! It's a compliment!" Avery took out her scroll and propped it on a table. "Everyone gather around!"

The rest of her team faced the camera in a group as it beeped. Ruben put his hands in his pockets, Malko held up a peace sign, Avery had her thumbs up, and Harmon straightened his tie.

"Say RADR!" Avery shouted.

"RADR!" Everyone else yelled as the scroll flashed and captured a picture.


	9. Chapter 9: The Shadows of Our Past

**Chapter 9: The Shadows of Our Past**

"Come on… move it!" A man in a black suit pushed another man in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs across the hallway of the Vale Police Department. The man in orange was of middle age with a scraggly beard and medium height.

"What's the meaning of this?!" The prisoner exclaimed in frustration and though he was tired of being pushed around, he kept his stature. The stature of a man who had done countless of wrongs but cared not for the suffering he caused.

"You're being transferred, bub. Means you're no longer our problem."

As they arrived at the front desk, another officer with shades and a bald spot spoke up. "Okay, the faunus slaver known as Graves… multiple accounts of murder."

"Yeah yeah…" Graves let out a groan. "You don't need to repeat my life story for me."

"Alright." The officer at the desk pulled open a drawer and searched for the file of the man known as "Graves" and handed it to the policeman behind the prisoner. "You're good to go."

An unsuspecting black van with no windows, sat outside the precinct with the words 'Vale Police Department'. The guard to his right opened the door, there were four more guards waiting inside. The policeman shoved Graves inside the vehicle. His body hit the metal floor with a thud as he squint his eyes to adjust to the dark interior. Two benches sat on each side of the car while the front was separated by a wall with a sliding grille.

"Sit tight." An officer pushed him down onto the bench. He had a standard issue SWAT rifle hanging around his neck.

Two taps on the door then they were off. The transport vehicle exited Vale via a highway. After a few miles Graves decided he could get a little cocky.

"So, where are we headed?" The prisoner asked with an optimistic grin.

"None of your business. Shut it." The guard to his right said.

Graves decided to lean back and close his eyes; it was going to be a long trip anyway. Still, to be captured due to some teenage brat… that was the worst thing about this situation. About an hour had passed before they left the city district and were out on roads that circled open mountains.

Graves awoke to hitting his head on the bench. The vehicle had hit a bump in the road. Groggily opening his eyes, he felt the vehicle shake once more. However, this time, it sounded like someone had landed on top of the van.

"What the hell was…?"

"Aaaargh!" A scream was heard coming from the front. The guard in front of Graves opened the sliding window to find that both the driver and the policeman in the front were gone. Which meant that no one was driving.

The van swerved off the side of the mountain, rolling along the steep slope. Graves immediately grabbed the officer to his left and used his body to shield himself. The crashed vehicle finally stopped as it hit the tree horizontally.

The slaver felt blood trickle down his head. Thankfully, the guard had taken most of the damage leaving the rest up to Graves' own aura. The fall also seemed to have killed the man. He reached into the policeman's pocket and retrieved the keys to his handcuffs.

After freeing himself of his cuffs, Graves kicked the back doors with ease and found himself in the middle of a dense forest. Four men in what looked like black versions of Atlas standard soldier armor stood in front of him. Their visors gleamed red. In the middle stood a figure in a black hooded robe.

"You are Graves, correct?" The figure, whose voice sounded female, asked. Her voice was deep and clear even if she wore a mask that covered the lower part of her face.

"It's about time, sweetheart. I'd like to give you my thanks for breaking me out." Graves bowed down.

"Oh, we're not breaking you out."

"Huh?"

"Someone placed a contract on your head. We're here to collect."

Graves took a step back. They were mercenaries! Running inside the van, he grabbed the officer's rifle and sprayed bullets on two of the mercs. The other two fired their rifles as well. Graves took cover behind a tree but a bullet hit his leg and penetrated his flesh. He limped down against the tree.

 _'What the hell?!'_ He felt his limp leg. His aura hadn't completely been drained yet.

Peeking out of the tree, the mercenaries closed in on him. He closed his eyes before jumping out and activating his semblance. Aiming the gun, he fired the rest of the clip at the remaining foes. All of bullets hit their heads and knocked them onto the ground. Graves panted as he caught his breath.

"Interesting… that was very clever of you." The woman in the black hood said. Graves frantically searched for her but it seemed that she was nowhere to be found.

"A surprise attack won't do you any good, love. I can see it coming miles away," replied the slaver as he gripped his weapon tighter.

"Oh, I'm afraid you will never see me coming."

A dark cloud suddenly surrounded Graves, blocking all light. He was completely blind. He felt a swift blade sink into his back with the tip protruding out of his stomach. He gasped for air as the woman in black whispered the last words he'll ever hear.

"May you find light in the dark."

* * *

A loud clang rang out as Weiss' rapier was parried by Ruben's spear. The ice queen leapt back and formed a black glyph under her feet. In less than a second, she was launched into the air where her feet hit the roof. Ruben looked up and transformed Sanguis Spike into its sword mode. Weiss launched herself towards the red haired boy at full force. Ruben managed to parry the thrust but the impact of the fire dust knocked him back on his knees.

"What's wrong, Crimson?" The heiress taunted. "You've been fighting defensively this entire match."

"Just you wait, Schnee…" Ruben pushed up his glasses and charged forward.

Weiss raised her rapier and prepared to defend.

 _'Parry right.'_

Weiss parried Ruben's left swing.

 _'Middle exposes.'_

Ruben quickly turned around and kicked Weiss in the chest, staggering her.

 _'Finish it with a quick downward slash!'_

Ruben brought his sword down on the heiress. However, she quickly jumped back while Sanguis Spike pierced the ground.

 _'I… was too slow?'_ Ruben looked up.

Weiss had used the advantage to charge in and hit Ruben in the center, dropping his aura tremendously. The red head fell on his bottom and looked up as Weiss prepared the final blow.

"Time to end this." Weiss charged forward.

Ruben immediately raised his left arm up. A metal gauntlet he wore produced a circular force field and shielded him from Weiss' attack. The heiress stumbled back as Ruben activated his rocket modules and used the boost to jump over Weiss and reach his sword. Grabbing his weapon, he transformed it into a rifle and fired burst shots at Weiss. She fell back on the ground, surprised by the sudden comeback.

A buzzer rang as Ms. Goodwitch entered the battle stage. Lights turned on as the crowd of students watching in their seats were revealed. Two holographic portraits were displayed above them containing pictures of Ruben and Weiss. A red bar was present on the bottom of both displays.

"Hm…" Glynda reviewed the data on her scroll. "It seems we have a draw. Both of your aura levels are in the red with Mr. Crimson's being about six percent lower than Ms. Schnee's."

"Hey!" Weiss immediately got up. "That wasn't fair! He used some sort of shield against me!"

"All huntsmen and huntresses are allowed to use whatever they have at their disposal in a tournament style fight, Ms. Schnee. Of course, as long as they register it."

Ruben got up and holstered his weapon on his back.

"…and Mr. Crimson."

Ruben looked at his blonde instructor.

"Please train more and learn not to rely too heavily on your 'toys'!" Glynda said as she turned to face the rest of the class. "And remember everyone, the Vytal tournament is only a few months away. It won't be long before the students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale. So keep practicing."

Everyone in the class murmured among themselves because of the sudden news.

"Those choosing to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale. That will be all. Class dismissed."

* * *

The cafeteria, a large hall strewn with long tables, was littered with different students, all enjoying their lunch break. Teams RWBY, JNPR, BLUS, GAMA, and RADR all sat together in one long table comprised of two joined together, where Nora was telling a story.

"So there we were… in the middle of the night!" Nora said with a grin.

"It was day." Ren corrected.

"We were surrounded by Ursi."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!" Nora stood up with her hands on the table.

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Oooh! Tell another one!" Mond shouted in glee.

"I'd rather not…" Malko put his arms behind his head. "It's just a stupid dream."

"Well, I was expecting it to be a dream. There are some plot holes." Ruben, who was sitting next to Ren, said. "Like the fact that it would be impossible to skin an Ursa since it would immediately evaporate."

"There's a reason it's called a DREAM, Ruben." Aurum answered back.

"Oh, he's just in a bad mood because he knows that I could've beaten him in that fight if it wasn't for those contraptions of his!" Weiss crossed her arms.

"Hey!" Ruben stood up only to be pulled down by Avery.

"Ruben."

"Weiss." Ruby tried to calm her partner down.

"By the way what was that gauntlet on your arm?" Meroch asked.

"Oh. Um… it's a sort of Aura shield. The device absorbs the user's Aura and projects it as a circular shield." Ruben explained.

"Hmph!" Weiss grunted. "Is that how you compensate for your lack of training?"

"Hey, at least he didn't do as bad as Jaune in the fight before that." Sable remarked with a chuckle.

At that moment, everyone looked at Jaune who sat at the end of the table, steadily picking at his food with a fork. Earlier that day, Jaune had fought against Cardin the match before Ruben and Weiss', ultimately losing due to his poor decisions in offensive and defensive tactics.

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrah asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Huh?" Jaune snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little… not okay." Brand said.

"Guys, I'm fine… seriously. Look!" Jaune nervously laughed as he held up a thumbs up.

In the distance, bursts of laughter could be heard. Four intimidating guys gathered around a table chuckling at another student. These four were known as team CRDL. As a team, these boys had perfect chemistry since all of them were troublemakers and had a knack for bullying people. Their leader was Cardin Winchester who had brown hair and wore silver armor with his symbol on his chest plate.

"Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrah explained.

"Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah! He just liked to mess around you know? Practical jokes!" Jaune poorly explained.

"He's a bully." Ruby stated.

"Oh please, name one time he's 'bullied' me." Jaune said while gesturing quotation marks in the air.

"Sable?" Brand called out.

Taking out a small memo pad, Sable cleared his throat. "Dropping your books on purpose… jamming you and your shield in a doorway… and…" Sable let out a chuckle. "This is the best one! Shoving you into a locker and sending you to the sky!" It was at this point, the archer couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"I didn't land far from the school." Jaune tried to back his point.

"You keep a journal of those things?" Melo asked.

"Of course! Cardin Winchester is a like an omen of chaos. Everywhere he goes, destruction and torment follows in his wake." Sable pushed up his glasses as he smirked. "It's also pretty hilarious."

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." Pyrrah said.

"Ooh!" Nora stood up in a fighting stance. "We'll break his legs!"

"I second!" Mond raised his fist.

"Third" Sable raised his hand.

"Guys, really. It's fine." Jaune stood up with his tray. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone."

"Yeah… I should add pulling some faunus' ears to the list." Sable glanced back at CRDL's table. The student they were laughing at turned out to be Velvet.

"Please stop." Velvet pleaded.

"I told you it was real." Cardin told the rest of his friends.

"What a freak!" Another boy with a Mohawk said.

"Atrocious." Pyrrah commented. "I can't stand people like him."

At that moment, Ace stood up wearing an angry look.

"Where do you think you're going?" Meroch asked.

"To beat them up."

"Ace, that'll only get you into trouble."

"Velvet is our friend, Roch! We need to do something!" Ace looked back over to their table. Cardin kept pulling at Velvet's right bunny ear while the rest were laughing at her. The faunus girl had tears already forming in her eyes. To believe that these first years could pick on a second year this easily.

"Ah!" Velvet stumbled back as Cardin suddenly let her go. His eyes glowed.

"I am Cardin and I'm a big shithead!"

"What?"

"Cardin, you okay buddy?" One of Cardin's teammates reached out his hand only to be forcefully knocked down by his leader.

Velvet peeked at the figure behind Cardin. Malko stood there with his right arm raised and his strings stretched out. Cardin immediately grabbed the guy with a Mohawk and slammed him onto the table.

"Cardin, what's wrong with you, man?!"

"Malko, stop!" Velvet shouted.

The puppeteer then made Cardin wrestle the last team member to the ground while simultaneously throwing punches to his head. Cardin then stood up.

"Malko, I said stop!" Velvet cried one last time.

With a swish of his hands, Malko sent Cardin flying across the room. His eyes returned to normal as his strings disconnected from the leader of team CRDL.

"You alright?" Malko asked.

Velvet took a step back. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"Well, I wasn't going to just sit there and watch!"

"Why would you care?!"

Malko opened his mouth but no words came out. Suddenly, Glynda's voice boomed across the cafeteria.

"Mr. Aprikose as well as the rest of team RADR, please report to the principal's office immediately!"

"Brilliant." Malko turned around to find Ruben, Avery, and Harmon standing right behind him.

"Let's go then ." Harmon crossed his arms.

"Malko, are you okay?" Avery asked.

Malko's eyes widened as he quickly spun in the opposite direction. Velvet had already left the cafeteria. He immediately felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Come on, bad boy." Ruben said.

Malko lowered his head. He didn't get to tell her…

* * *

Ozpin sat at his desk with its intricate clock-like design whilst his hands were clasped together. Glynda stood beside him, anxiously waiting for the students she had called. The doors of the elevator opened and out came team RADR.

Ruben was the first to speak. "Professor, I'd like to apologize on behalf of my teammate. He's a bit-"

"Mr. Crimson." Ozpin interrupted. "If I may, I would like to ask. Are you aware of Mr. Aprikose's background?"

"Hm?"

Malko shifted his feet as Glynda pulled out a folder and gave it to Ruben. "Mr. Aprikose has already been a student of Beacon Academy for a year."

"What?" Ruben opened the folder. It contained details of Malko as well as a picture at the top left corner. Flipping the file up, he found a stack of papers stapled onto the folder.

"Those are all of Mr. Aprikose's written incidents." Glynda explained.

"Malko…" Harmon turned to his partner. "You're a repeat student?"

Malko lowered his head. "Yeah..."

"Nineteen years old?" Ruben read aloud.

"We just wanted to inform you." Ozpin said. "Mr. Aprikose has been well behaved for the past week but the incident with team CRDL forced us to take action."

"Hey, he was just protecting an innocent faunus girl from being bullied!" Avery reasoned out.

"That still isn't an excuse to lash out violently at the people responsible." Glynda answered back. "Rest assured, team CRDL are on their way here right after you."

"I thought we were a team…" Ruben clenched his fist. "We opened up to you yet you still kept this from us?!"

"I'm sorry." Malko replied.

"What happens now?" Avery asked.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "Well, we decided-"

"You." Glynda corrected.

"Yes. I decided that Mr. Aprikose deserved another chance. So I accepted him for another year. However, if he fails this year, then he is officially expelled from Beacon Academy. I know his family. His mother is a great huntress and begged me to allow him to stay."

Malko narrowed his eyebrows. His mother had always wanted him to be a huntsman. He never wanted his future to be decided for him. Unfortunately, he was her only child so his future apparently wasn't his choice.

Harmon stood straight. "I'm truly sorry for my partner's behavior before. On our first night as a team, he asked us to guide him, to help him. I failed him... but that won't happen again."

"Harmon…"

Ozpin chuckled. "Very well worded, Mr. Rost. Please let this be the last incident we encounter."

Malko nodded.

"However, school regulations require you to store your weapon in the lockers during class hours just like the other students. Of course you may carry them around if required by a professor." The headmaster stated. "You are free to go."

Malko stood there as he watched his team enter the elevator. Ruben crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Avery seemed genuinely worried about what just happened. Harmon was standing by the glass looking out to the campus grounds.

 _'I still have more mistakes to fix,'_ he thought to himself as he followed them.

As the doors closed, Glynda immediately turned around. "I'm still against this, Ozpin."

"I know you are… but caterpillars don't stay caterpillars for long."

* * *

Ace turned a corner as she frantically searched for her bunny eared friend. What Malko did was justice. No faunus or even human should ever be treated like that. She eventually arrived at the second year dormitories where a voice came out of a room.

"I'll get them for this!" Coco shouted as she crossed paths with her. "Ace?"

"Coco, have you seen-" Ace stopped mid-sentence as Velvet appeared behind Coco.

"Velvet!" Ace held her friend's shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Velvet smiled with small tears in her eyes.

"She said Cardin pulled her ears." Coco curled her hand around her fist. "I'm going to repay him by pulling his ears out."

"Actually, you're a bit late for that." Ace said. "Malko already took care of him."

"Malko?! Aprikose?! He's still here?!"

"Huh? Yeah. Aprikose… he's with team RADR."

"Ace, take my advice, stay away from that punk." Coco had a serious tone in her voice.

"Why?"

"Because he's a liar!" Velvet suddenly yelled. "He's a dangerous person who cares about no one but himself! I'm glad you're not on the same team as him. Ozpin should've just kicked him out."

"Velvet... you never actually told me what happened between you and Malko." Ace asked sincerely.

The faunus tried to hold back her tears as she spoke. "I guess I can tell you… you're my friend after all. Come in."

Ace carefully walked into the room which felt like a jungle of mixed emotions, as Coco closed the door. Fox and Yatsuhashi were gone, leaving Coco and Velvet in the slightly generic room. Sitting on the bed, Velvet sighed.

"We used to date."

"What?" Ace tilted her head.

"He used to make me happy. Believe it or not, I was a lot more confident before. Malko never discriminated me. He always saw me as a normal girl. Everything was perfect. Then that night happened…"

* * *

 _"Velvet!" Coco ran up to her friend._

 _"Coco? Are you okay? You seem out of breath." The bunny faunus replied._

 _"Have you seen Malko?"_

 _Velvet tilted her head. "No… his team said he was out."_

 _"Just as I feared."_

* * *

"She told me that something had happened in downtown Vale... and that Malko was involved." Velvet explained. "I ran and I ran as fast as I could. By the time I got there, it was like a riot broke out."

* * *

 _"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Velvet pushed her way through a large crowd of people. She kept going until she was stopped by a police officer._

 _"Sorry, ma'am this is a crime scene."_

 _"A crime scene?" Velvet's eyes widened._

 _"Yeah." Another officer walked up to them. "One of those illegal fight clubs. Jeez, I don't know why these scum put up events like these. It's barbaric."_

 _Velvet can only imagine the horrible things they did in there. However, that wasn't why she came here. She had to find him. It didn't take long. Behind the two policemen stood Glynda Goodwitch… and beside her was her boyfriend, Malkaush Aprikose._

 _His hands were bound in handcuffs as he was dragged across the pavement by two cops. Pushing her way through the two officers from earlier, Velvet stood in front of the crowd and stared in horror as he was dragged away. Malko looked up and made eye contact. He lied…_

* * *

"…he has been involved with those people before. He told me about it and said he would never be affiliated with those people again. He promised me! He ignored us, he made his team leave Beacon!" Velvet couldn't handle any more. She broke down in tears as Ace embraced her.

"It's fine… that's all you have to say." Ace patted her head.

"Do you understand now?" Coco asked. "He's nothing but trouble."

Ace pondered this for a second. Everything made sense. Is Malko really that bad? Ace knew not to make any hasty conclusions.

"Do you mind if I talk about this to Meroch?" Ace asked.

"It's fine." Velvet said. "He's a good friend as well. Just… maybe not Aurum or Grei."

Ace nodded and left their room. This would be simple. After all, Ace had a knack for figuring people out. That's why she stays quiet in front of strangers. She listens to their tone, their actions, and their facial expressions. She always knows if someone is lying. This time, Ace was going to find out who Malkaush Aprikose really was.

* * *

The sky had turned orange as the sun began to set. The embers of a glowing sword sizzled as it was dipped in water. Brand checked the sides. It looked sharp enough.

"How's this?" Brand showed his orange haired boss the sword.

"Hm…" Pax examined the blade. "Looks like it needs more time on the anvil."

"Sure thing." Brand sat down on the stool in front of the anvil and put his goggles on. Grabbing the hammer, he pounded away at the sword.

"So, how's your first week?" Pax asked as he inserted a slab of metal into the smelter.

"It's been crazy. Not only our schedule but also the drama."

Pax chuckled. "Drama?"

"Yeah… among my friends. I don't know."

"How many friends?"

"About two to five out of nineteen."

Pax let out a whistle as he leaned against the wall. "Nineteen friends. And only in your first year. Not bad."

"Well we kind of fought together in the Emerald Forest. They seem nice. I'm still learning names though." Brand held up the now hammered sword and examined its thickness.

"Yeah I saw…" Pax moved in closer and whispered. "Ozpin sent me a recording of the fight."

Brand smiled and put the blade into a bucket of water.

"Anyone special?" Pax suddenly mentioned.

"Special? Well Sable's my partner and my best friend so I guess-" Brand raised his goggles.

"No Brand. I mean girls. Y'know someone you cuddle with or-"

"Stop!" Brand raised the new sword he had forged and pointed it at Pax. "I'm not interested in those kinds of things."

"Seriously? Not even a little?"

"Yeah. I've been living on my own for over three years. I guess I forgot what a normal life is like."

"Well, Blue!" Pax patted Brand on the back. "I guess that's enough for today."

"Aren't you glad we started early? You're sense of time's a mess." Brand put the sword on a table beside a stack of papers. These papers contained orders and specific instructions for different weapons. This pile was the finished orders. Brand wiped his sweat before he noticed that a single paper was left under the sword. Pulling it out he read it.

"Need to perform maintenance for sniper cartridges…"

"What?" Pax raised his head.

"We missed one." Brand examined the sheet. It looked like it had been hastily torn out of a notebook and written by a child.

Pax took the paper from Blue. "That was from this afternoon. Right! She said she'd perform maintenance on her weapon before we close up shop."

"I'll get some tools." Brand said as he entered a nearby shed.

"Sorry!" A red figure came rushing in. "Am I late?"

"Not at all Miss…"

"Uh, Rose. You can call me Ruby."

"Alright, Ruby. Let's have a look. Woah!" Pax gasped as Ruby pulled out her scythe.

"I just need to fix the cartridge right here." Ruby pointed to the part where the bullet cases exit the weapon.

"Alright. We definitely have the right tools for that." Pax looked over to the shed. Brand hadn't come out yet. "Blue! What's taking you so long?"

"Hold your horses, I got 'em!" Brand exited the shed with a small tool box for gun maintenance.

"Brand?" Ruby said.

Brand paused and realized who filled in the order. "Oh."

"You work at the forge?"

"Yeah. I haven't told anyone yet, huh?"

"I'm guessing this is one of your nineteen friends?" Pax asked.

"Yeah. Ruby Rose, Pax. Pax, Ruby Rose." Brand introduced.

"I see…" Pax smiled mischievously.

"Hi!" Ruby held out her hand to which Pax gladly shook.

"I've heard of you. You're the kid from Signal who was moved up two years."

"What?!" Ruby panicked. "It's really not a big deal… I just don't like people to think I'm a special case."

"Don't worry, I get my information straight from Ozpin." Pax received the toolbox from Brand and walked over to the workbench. "Let's get started so we can rest. At least we don't have class tomorrow."

"Agreed." Brand replied. Thankfully the weekend was right around the corner.

* * *

Ruben sat on his bed, tinkering with his shield gauntlet using a screwdriver while Avery sat across him.

"Ruben… it's not his fault he wanted to hide his past from us. I mean, what would you have done?"

"Avery, a team needs trust otherwise it will fall apart. I can't be a capable leader knowing that one of my team members is a liar." Ruben said. "I've read through all the files. Malko's team got disbanded because of him and chose to leave Beacon."

"What?" Avery had a surprised look on her face.

"It's true. Apparently the only reason he was allowed to stay was because he was willing to repeat the year."

"That's… horrible."

"I don't want that to happen to us, Aves. We came here to help our families back in Mistral. And I'm not going to waste a year of our lives for Malko." Ruben stood up and looked out the window. He had to decide, as a leader, on what was the best course of action for his team.

* * *

"I see…" Harmon rubbed his chin as he and Malko walked through a garden. The night sky shone bright as the two made their way back to the dorm. The puppeteer had explained his story to his partner.

"I don't know what to do, Harmon. It seems like everything I do offends people."

"People are afraid of what they do not understand. They remember the bad memories you gave them and forget the good ones. That's my theory at least."

Malko grinned. "You are way smarter than me."

"And you too can be quite intelligent. You said you wanted to take this year seriously. That's exactly what we're going to do."

"Thanks, partner!" Malko grabbed Harmon's head and rustled his hair.

"Please!" Harmon broke free of his partner's grip. "Please don't assault me with such barbaric gestures!"

Malko laughed at his friend's annoyed look.

"So what about Ms. Scarlatina?"

Malko stopped laughing. "Maybe one day. But for now… I need to start from the bottom."

The two suddenly froze in their tracks as four students approached them. They turned out to be team CRDL. Malko had been informed about their members through Ozpin's files. Cardin, their leader and the other three were Dove, Sky, and Russel.

"Well, well. If it isn't Mr. Strings." Cardin said mockingly. "Your girlfriend okay? We were just messing around after all."

Malko stretched his fingers but then realized that he had left Charlotte's Web in his locker. Harmon didn't have his weapon either.

"Cardin, we don't want any trouble." Harmon said.

"You were already in trouble as soon as you took us on." Cardin pointed to Malko. "And we're here to return the favor."

The four members started closing in. As they were walking they revealed that they had their weapons. Cardin took out his mace and smiled.

 _'I don't have my strings!'_ The puppeteer panicked. _'I… can't fight!'_

* * *

"Me?" Meroch pointed at himself.

Ace quickly nodded.

"I'm not sure if I have the experience to help but okay."

The two sat in the lobby where a small crowd of students still loitered around.

"Velvet and Coco said that team RADR is in danger because of Malko." Ace explained.

"Why?"

"Apparently, he and Velvet were… a thing. And that his team was forced to choose between repeating a year or getting kicked out."

"That's horrible… and would explain his behavior earlier." Meroch remembered the fight between him and team CRDL. "Anyway, you don't happen to have any contacts who could provide more information do you?"

"Huh?" Ace tilted her head.

"We're going to need more information and the best way to do that is to speak with some of your underground friends."

Ace pouted. She had already told Meroch of her activities before the school year had started and how she stopped that faunus labor force. Of course, she wouldn't have discovered it if it wasn't for her informants who were more or less criminals.

"In may have one in the Vale Police Department…" Ace said quietly. "But we have to leave Grei and Aurum out of this."

"Really? But they're our teammates Ace."

"Please, Roch. This is important."

"Alright, we can start tomorrow. All of us are going to Vale anyway." Meroch stood up. "And they're done, just in time."

Aurum, Grei, and Yang entered the lobby in their workout clothes with towels in their hands.

"Phew." Aurum said. "That was quite fun."

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "Grei needs help though."

"You guys took me on at the same time." Grei said with a sad tone.

"A soldier always prepares for the unexpected!" Aurum proudly exclaimed.

"Alright. Let's head back to our auROOMS!" Yang said with a wink.

The group stood in silence.

"I honestly don't know who's worse." Meroch said as Ace jumped behind him.

* * *

"Goodnight!" Brand waved at Pax as he and Ruby walked back to the dormitory.

"You're going tomorrow right?" Ruby asked.

"Tomorrow?"

"Shopping? Vale? Weekend?"

"Oh yeah. Of course. Sable asked me to help him buy books." Brand recalled the list of novels Sable had made.

"Honestly… what do you think about Ruben and Weiss?" Ruby said.

"Those two?" Brand held his chin. "I think they need to resolve their conflict before it gets out of hand."

"I agree. Weiss is actually a nice person if you get to know her. I'm sure Ruben is too."

Ruben had been in a bad mood all day. Brand never probed the problem because he was confident that someone else could take care of it. He remembered the fact that the Schnee Dust Company were longtime rivals with Crimson Labs. Eventually, Weiss' family became more successful and popular than Ruben's. There were a lot of reasons for them to fight.

"I want to help them." Ruby suddenly said.

Brand snapped out of his thoughts and smiled. "Me too, Ruby."

"Time to pay, Aprikose!"

Brand suddenly heard Cardin's voice.

"Isn't that Malko and Harmon?!" Ruby pointed at the two figures surrounded by four bullies.

* * *

"Aaargh!" Cardin charged forward and brought his mace down as Malkaush strafed to the right, avoiding the attack. Looking to his right, he realized that Dove was about to thrust his sword. However, he didn't have time to react. Malkaush felt a sudden push, moving him out of the way. Dove's sword was caught in between Brand's hands as he grunted and kicked Dove back.

"Who the hell are you?!" Cardin shouted.

Rose petals fell on CRDL's leader as Ruby used his head as a stepping stone. Brand, Ruby, Malko, and Harmon stood side by side against CRDL.

"Fall back." Brand said.

"What?!" Malko shouted. "We're even, we can take 'em."

"You want to get in trouble again?!" Brand yelled back.

"Oh, we're not letting you go that easily." Cardin said.

"I can buy you enough time. Get to Glynda, Ozpin, whoever." Brand steadied his feet. He didn't have Cobalt Ravager but that didn't mean he couldn't fight.

"But-"

"Malko! Ozpin and Glynda specified that they didn't want any more conflicts. Do you really want to get expelled?!" Harmon warned his partner.

Malko paused. He was right. One more fight and it's over. "Brand."

Brand turned his head and nodded before Malko and Harmon ran off.

"Aw… looks like your friends left you!" Cardin mocked.

Brand readied himself but was surprised to find Ruby standing beside him.

"Ruby… go…" Brand whispered.

"Nope." Ruby replied.

"Argh!" Cardin swung a blow at Brand who defended with his right arm. It took out a small percentage of Aura that Brand immediately regenerated back.

"I won't fight you."

"Guess we'll have to make the effort, huh?" Cardin and his team surrounded Blue and Red, slashing and hacking at them the whole time. Ruby managed to dodge all the attacks while Brand stood still and took all the hits. Team CRDL backed off as they tried to catch their breath.

"Are you guys tired already?" Ruby said with a giggle.

"Fight back!" Cardin ordered.

"No." Brand stood his ground.

Cardin shouted as he swung down his mace one last time. Brand caught it and plucked it away from the leader. He threw the weapon to the side and stared back at Cardin.

"Mr. Winchester!" A green haired teacher with glasses picked up the mace and examined the students. "I'll have you know that unauthorized combat within the school premises is a major offense!"

"Professor Oobleck?" Ruby said.

"Good evening, Ms. Rose, Mr. Tachyon. I was informed that you were in trouble!"

Harmon and Malko stood behind the fast talking teacher.

"You tattletales!" Cardin moved forward but was stopped by the professor.

"Mr. Winchester, have you finished the essay I assigned to you? May I remind you that it is due next week!" Oobleck pulled out his thermos and took a sip. Brand always wondered what was in it. "I suggest you start on it before I report you to Ms. Goodwitch."

Cardin gritted his teeth. "Come on guys. This isn't over, Aprikose."

Malko smiled in victory as team CRDL walked away.

"Mr. Tachyon!" Oobleck shouted.

"Yes sir?!" Brand straightened his posture.

"A job well done. Many others would have resorted to violence… but you stayed calm."

"Thank you, professor." Brand said.

"Now, I would like you all to go back to your rooms. It's getting late."

"Yes professor." Everyone replied.

"Goodnight, students!" Oobleck took a single sip from his thermos before dashing off as fast as Ruby.

"And for the record: it was Harmon's idea to tell a teacher." Malko said.

"Really?" Ruby giggled.

"What's wrong with that?" Harmon had a confused look on his face.

"It's just that telling on people is a coward's doing." The puppeteer explained.

"It's also for people who have common sense."

"Keep telling yourself that!" Malko smiled. "And… thanks you guys."

"You're not so bad, Malko." Ruby said.

"Thanks. I like compliments coming from cute girls like you."

"Huh?!" Ruby's face turned red. "Ew! No!"

Brand couldn't help but cringe from Malko's comment while Harmon laughed. Still, his first week of Beacon had been the one of the best weeks of his life.

* * *

A small window was the only source of illumination into a dark room. A tall figure stood there, watching the shattered moon. He wore a slick black and gray suit. His hair was tucked back into a ponytail but the most noticeable feature was his left eye which was completely black with a scar running horizontally down his cheek. The man heard a slight creak as the door behind him opened.

"The reward?" He said in a deep tone.

The woman in black behind him pulled down her hood and her mask. Her ebony hair slid down the right side of her face. She held out a small briefcase. "500,000 Lien."

Turning around, he opened the briefcase to count the money. "Well done, my child."

"I learned from the best." The girl smiled.

"And you will continue to learn."

"By the way, Mr. No-face wanted to speak to you." The woman said as she left.

Smiling, the man pressed a button on his desk as a hologram of a boy's silhouette popped up. "What is it, Pyonn?"

 **"A contract."** A distorted voice said.

"I thought your job was to organize contracts and assign personnel for it."

" **Well, sir. This one's interesting. A contract submitted by our own. He even said he'd be the one to do it. All he needs is a squad of men for backup."**

"Must be someone important."

 **"Actually, a student from Beacon."**

"In Vale?"

 **"Yes."**

"How much?"

 **"Almost a million Lien."**

The man raised an eyebrow. "Makes sense. It would cost as much to cross Ozpin. Who's the target?"

Pyonn let out a chuckle. **"Malkaush Aprikose."**


	10. Chapter 10: The Lights of Our Future

**Chapter 10: The Lights of Our Future**

The morning sun shone over Vale as nineteen students entered the shopping district. They all gazed at the surroundings and took in the cheery atmosphere. It was the weekend, so the entire district was flooded with people.

"Alright!" Ruby stepped forward. "We'll all meet back here at exactly…"

"Four in the afternoon?" Harmon suggested.

"We'd never be able to finish in seven hours!" Avery complained.

"We can have dinner together." Aurum added.

"So six o'clock… yes, Mond?" Ruby pointed to the squirrel boy raising his hand.

"Overnight." Mond smiled.

"Okay... Six it is!" Ruby and the rest scattered, dividing themselves into pairs of two based on the partners they met during the initiation.

* * *

Brand followed Sable through a street to god knows where. He was still trying to open up to his brown haired friend since Brand tends to be quiet to people that weird him out.

"I'm glad you went with me." Sable said with his hands behind his head.

"Huh?" Brand stopped and looked to the archer.

"You barely talk to me about things other than school or fighting."

Sable was unfortunately telling the truth. To be honest, his personality scared Brand. It was like he was a bipolar sociopath.

"Well, uh… where do you want to start?" Brand asked.

"Hobbies." Sable answered.

"Weapons for one. Exploring. Ancient temples."

"You do any reading?"

Brand raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Encyclopedias, field guides-"

"No, dude. I mean stories. Novels?" his partner interrupted.

Brand shook his head.

"Well then!" Sable stopped in front of a store. "Let's get started!"

Brand realizing they were standing in front of a building, took a look at the sign and read it out loud. "Tukson's Book Trade?"

As they entered the store, Brand noticed that the room was filled with messy shelves with the slightly dusty books near the back and the spotless books were found near the cashier. A small crowd of people were walking around and browsing the collection.

A man with sideburns stood behind the main counter wearing a brown and black shirt. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun!" he called cheerily.

"Yes…" Sable approached the man with a smile. "I'm assuming you're Tukson?"

"The one and only. What can I do for ya?"

The archer held his chin. "Hm… I was wondering if you have the latest Hunter's Jump."

"Yes we do." Tukson pulled out a small book and handed it to Sable. "That'll be 2 Lien."

"Oh, well. My friend and I wanted to browse some books first."

"Alright. Feel free. As long as you don't run off with that." Tukson eyed the book in Sable's hand in a joking manner.

"Ooooh, I wouldn't dream of it…" Sable laughed nervously and turned around to whisper to Brand. "Damn it."

"What is that anyway?" Brand asked, pointing at the book Sable was holding.

"Oh, a collection of comics that release weekly. I like to expand my taste in literature. But that's not why we're here!" The archer dragged his blue haired friend by the coat to the novel section. "Okay, where to start!"

As Sable eyed the different books, Brand tried to find some that suited his taste. However, it seemed as if most of them in that section were romance novels.

"Well, first off!" Sable threw a book at Brand who caught it in his right hand.

"Ninjas of Love?" Brand read the cover out loud with an eyebrow raised.

"Decent characters you'll get attached to. Lots of… romance scenarios. Overall, great novel. Second book is even in the works…" Sable eyed another book and looked at its back. Nodding, he threw it at his partner. "Boundless! Tale of three friends going on an adventure across the land! Ooh! Way of Kings, another good read!"

"Um… Sable." Brand felt two more books pile on top of the others.

"Wait here, I'm gonna check out that section." Sable pointed across the store and immediately dashed to it.

Brand sighed as he lifted the heavy books. _'Why'd I agree to this…'_ he thought to himself.

"You…" an emotionless voice sounded.

Brand turned around to find a black haired girl with a bow looking up at him.

"Blake right? Sorry, I'm still trying to memorize everyone's names." Brand admitted.

"Yeah." Blake eyed the books in his arms. "You going to read all that?"

"Hopefully…" Brand lowered his head.

Suddenly, something caught Blake's eyes. Her eyes flashed, she immediately pulled out one of the books, making the pile shake and eventually topple.

Brand almost fell over, struggling to catch all the books. "Hey! What-"

"Why are you buying this?" Blake showed him the book she plucked out. He saw the cover of Ninjas of Love.

"Sable said it's good." Brand replied.

"Oh no…" Blake turned around only to be confronted by a smiling brown archer.

"Blake! Nice to see you again. I expected you to visit this shop." Sable said while pushing up his glasses.

"What do you want?" she asked in a tone with a hint of distaste.

"Do I really seem hostile to you?"

Blake narrowed her eyes.

 _'Now I'm stuck in this situation!'_ Brand thought dreadfully.

Sable sighed and grabbed the book from Blake. "Is it because you read this?"

"T-that's none of your business!" Blake pushed past Sable. "I just hate people who are too nosy."

Sable watched as Blake spirited away from the store without looking back, hoping the archer wouldn't follow her.

"Sable?" Brand tried to call his partner.

"Something about her doesn't seem right…"

"Sable."

"Here. You're paying for these by the way." The archer plopped Ninjas of Love back onto Brand's ever growing pile and headed to the counter to pay for his Hunter's Jump.

Brand looked at the massive pile of novels he had. _'Guess this is going to put a dent in my earnings.'_

* * *

The sun shone bright as Meroch and Ace made their way downtown. The girl had her hands over her head and was attempting to shield herself from the sunlight. Meroch noticed this and chuckled.

"Here." Meroch spoke as he placed a large orange sunhat on Ace's head. "It'll keep you from cooking."

Ace gave her partner a smile before they arrived at the entrance of an alleyway.

"This is the place." Ace said as she and Meroch entered the alleyway behind the police precinct.

"Seems a bit shady…" Her partner commented.

"Well, it's the only way we can talk to him."

The back door of the police station opened as a man with short hair came out. He was wearing the standard Vale Police force uniform.

"Ms. Gale, never thought I'd see you again. Who's this chump?" He eyed Meroch.

"It's alright. He's my friend. We need information on Malkaush Aprikose. His background and criminal records."

The officer laughed. "Aprikose?! That kid from Beacon who got arrested in a fight club? It's going to cost you."

Meroch spoke up. "Well maybe we could-"

Ace immediately took off her sunhat. "You owe me, don't you? I took down Graves for you."

"What? You haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

The policeman rubbed his temples. "Graves' transport vehicle was attacked. Drove off and fell down the cliffs."

Ace's eyes widened. "Any survivors?"

"None. Two officers' bodies were found far away while one remained in the truck. And Graves… around a few meters away from the van with a trail of blood. Looked like he put up a fight. Stab wounds on him and a couple others."

Ace took a moment to think. Who would want him dead?

"Ah great. You got me talking again. Probably that charm of yours."

Ace quickly dashed behind Meroch as he sighed.

"Look, can you at least give us something?" The violet boy asked.

"Sure." The cop took out a pen and a notepad. Writing an address down, he tore the page and handed it to Meroch. "This is the address of one of his old team members. I don't have the time for a story. We even now, Ms. Gale?"

Ace peeked from behind her partner. "Fine."

"Then that is all I can do for you. Ring me up if you need anything else." The officer entered the back door and closed it behind him.

"To think the Vale Police Department has members like him…" Meroch examined the paper. "It's not far. We can head there right away, Ace."

* * *

Ruben looked through the windows of a hobby shop. Inside, different drones with different sizes and functions were displayed in the front.

"See anything you like?" Avery asked him.

"Aves, nothing beats my drone. I'm just trying to look for spare parts because _somebody_ destroyed the propellers." Ruben answered.

"Why don't we go in?" Pyrrha suggested as she caught up.

"By the way, where did Jaune say he had to go? It's not like him to miss something like this." Avery asked.

"I'm sure he's off with Cardin doing something important." Pyrrha said with an annoyed tone.

As the three students entered, they gazed upon the different collectibles, models, and other hobby items. Ruben approached the man behind the counter.

"Do you have any propellers? Specifically four made out of glass fiber reinforced composite?" The Crimson asked.

"Yeah. I'll check the back." The cashier entered the back room through the door behind him.

"Hey, take a look!" Avery held up a replica of a sword from the Great War.

"I've heard about those!" Pyrrha said. "They could cut through Grimm bones."

"Aves, put that down." Ruben said. "You might break it."

The girls stared as the scientist lowered his head.

"Are you okay, Ruben?" Pyrrha asked.

"Fine just fine, Pyrrha!" shouted the frustrated Ruben who turned around to find the cashier staring back at him.

"Uh, that'll be 40 Lien."

Ruben quickly took out his wallet and placed the exact amount of money on the counter. Grabbing, the box of propellers, he placed it in his coat and exited the store.

"Oh no. Ruben!" Avery quickly turned around before going out. "I'll find you again!" she exclaimed.

Pyrrha nodded before lowering her head, thinking about Jaune.

* * *

Harmon checked the items he had purchased. All of them were inside a big, brown paper bag.

"What are those anyway?" Malko asked as they made their way down a busy street.

"Lubricant for my weapon's mechanisms. Some sheet music notebooks for songwriting. And…" Harmon pulled out a box. "Chocolates for late night homework."

Malko laughed while nonchalantly reaching out for the brown sweets. "You better give me some."

"Buy your own," replied Harmon, who swatted his partner's greedy hand away.

As the two stopped at a crosswalk, Malko spotted four individuals across the street. They were the members of team CFVY. Velvet was smiling as she conversed with her teammates.

"Hey, Harms." Malko nudged his partner.

"Don't call me that."

"I forgot I wanted to check a store back there. I'll be right back."

"But I thought we were going to have lunch." Harmon frowned.

"It'll just take a second…" Malko said as he dragged Harmon elsewhere. He didn't have the guts to face Velvet yet. Maybe one day. But for now, he wanted to avoid hurting her again.

However, the two students did not notice a figure on the roof of the building across, watching them intently. He wore a black two tailed coat with circular discs on the back of each hand. His black and red hair stood up in the wind.

"Gotcha."

* * *

"This looks like the place." Meroch looked at the weapons shop in front of him. It was like an open garage with different weapons hanging from the walls and tools scattered everywhere. To be honest, it was a mess. No wonder it's at the end of the shopping district. Entering the establishment, the smell of metal and rust filled the air. Ace covered her nose as a big, bald man walked up to them.

"Anything I can do for ya kids?"

Meroch gulped. "Yeah… we're looking for an old Beacon student. I don't really know his name."

"Her."

A girl with a black tank top and long mechanic's pants approached them. Her purple hair waved in the wind as she spoke. "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"I'm Meroch. And this is Ace."

Ace waved hello.

"Niv. Now I won't ask again. What do you want?"

"You studied at Beacon, right?"

"Used to. Dropped out in my first year. Been working here ever since."

 _'It is her.'_ Meroch thought about his words carefully. "Well… it's about one of your old teammates."

Niv stepped forward and grabbed Meroch by the collar. "Look, I already told the police! I had nothing to do with whatever that scumbag Aprikose did. He did those things behind our backs and managed to ruin all of our lives in the process."

Letting go, she went back to work on a grinder. "You better leave."

Meroch paused. He had no idea what to say.

"Miss…" Ace softly said. "Malko is currently trying to better himself."

"Repeating the year. I know. He has no sense of shame." Niv said.

"My friends and I want to give him a chance. Please, we need to know more."

Niv exhaled. "It's a long story."

"We have time." Meroch said.

"Well, where do I start?"

* * *

 _"Malko!" Niv called out. "Where is my hairbrush?!"_

 _Her eyes lay across the room where her partner was unfortunately on a bed, snuggled up with his faunus girlfriend watching a movie on a scroll._

 _"No idea. Your hair is straight anyway." Malko laughed._

 _"You want to borrow mine?" Velvet reached for her bag and pulled out her brush._

 _"Thanks!" Niv faced the puppeteer. "And you better start looking."_

 _"Yeah yeah…" Malko shooed his teammate away._

 _Sighing, Niv decided to go to the bathroom._

* * *

"Life was like that most of the time," Niv said. "Until that day…"

* * *

 _"Niv!"_

 _The purple haired girl turned to see a guy with blue hair and indigo armor walk up to her._

 _"What is it, Damien?"_

 _"Where the hell's Malko? He hasn't attended any classes today!"_

 _Damien always made a big deal out of small things. He always wanted to be the perfect huntsman. She never knew why Ozpin appointed him as a leader of team DMND. She also had the unfortunate honor of locking eyes with him in the Emerald Forest._

 _"No idea. Have you asked Desmond? He is his partner after all."_

 _"He's looking for him right now…" Damien curled his hand into a fist. "We have a team activity in the coming week. We need to prepare."_

 _"I'll make sure to look out for him."_

 _As the blue haired warrior walked out of their room, Niv's scroll lit up._

 _"Hello?" Desmond's voice came out of the device._

 _"Desmond! Where are you?!"_

 _"Vale… it's Malko. Ms. Goodwitch tracked his scroll to his last known location and is taking a police force with her."_

 _Niv's eyes widened. 'What have you done, Aprikose?!'_

 _"Desmond, stay right there!" Niv picked up her bag and headed out the door. On the way out of the dorms, she ran across one of Velvet's teammates._

 _"Coco, right?!"_

 _"Yeah…" Coco pulled her shades down._

 _"Can you tell Velvet that Malko's in trouble? He's somewhere in Vale."_

 _"Alright. I'll try to find her."_

 _"Thanks!" Niv rushed out and headed for the landing platform._

* * *

 _The sun was setting as Desmond watched Niv's bullhead land. He wore his white and red hoodie along with black jogging pants. His hair was short and black._

 _"Des!" Niv jumped out, dressed in her violet jumpsuit with purple pads on her shoulders, elbows, and knees. "Where is he?!"_

 _"I don't know. Even Goodwitch is having a hard time tracking him down."_

 _"Oh!" Niv pulled out her scroll._

 _"What are you doing?" Desmond asked._

 _"An old trick I taught him." Niv tapped the system apps and selected the map of Vale. "You can scramble your scroll's signal as long as you have a jammer or if you're underground."_

 _"I see." Desmond leaned over._

 _"Here are the list of all known underground tunnels in Vale." She swiped up the names of different underground passageways. "And this is Malko's last known location."_

 _She pointed at the entrance to one of those tunnels._

 _"Goodwitch checked that place already. She found nothing." Desmond said._

 _"Yeah. But that's the thing, how do we know there's no secret entrance or something?" Niv zoomed in to the tunnel schematics. "There."_

 _She pointed to a maintenance door on the map._

 _"Maintenance rooms are supposed to be at least ten kilometers apart. This one's too close."_

 _"Niv, you're awesome!" Desmond commended. "Wait… do we go after him?"_

 _"Well, duh." Niv started walking but stopped when she found out Desmond wasn't following. "Des?"_

 _"I think we should inform Ms. Goodwitch. She's been at it all day."_

 _"Des, you know what'll happen if he gets caught, right? He'll get kicked out, heck, we might even get kicked out."_

 _"We aren't true huntsmen if we don't tell the truth, Niv."_

 _She took a step back. To think, for him to turn against his own partner. To be honest, Malko was never really there for his team. But that didn't mean he deserved this._

 _"I don't know what he's been doing this past month! For all we know, he might be a criminal of some sort." Desmond said._

 _Niv thought for a moment. Maybe this was the right thing to do._

 _"Fine then. Let's get Goodwitch."_

* * *

"We informed Glynda and the police. And they found him in an illegal fighting den!" Niv said with a bitter tone. "After that, our team was in pieces. We had a choice, to repeat the year or get expelled. Even if it wasn't our fault. Malko was the only one who stayed. Desmond and Damien are god knows where and me… well, I'm here as a mechanic."

Meroch and Ace lowered their heads after hearing Niv's story.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ace said.

"It's fine. I get a decent pay and I'm actually very good at what I do." Niv smiled. However, that smile faded. "I just wish I could say the same for the rest."

Meroch nodded. "We have what we need. Thank you again, Niv."

"No problem. And…" She stopped them before they left the shop. "Thank you for giving Malko a chance. Make the right decision I never made."

"We will." Ace assured.

* * *

"Ruben!" Avery shouted as she turned a corner. She found Ruben sitting in an alleyway, staring at the ground.

"How many times are you going to make me run after you?!" Avery said.

"Am I useless?" Ruben asked.

Avery was shocked at his question.

"Weiss was right. She would've beaten me without my gadgets." Ruben explained. "I always rely on them too much. I guess I'm not much of a fighter."

Avery plopped herself beside her partner. "Why do you beat yourself up over these things?"

Ruben noticed that her voice wavered.

"I look up to you, you know? I always have. You're smart, charismatic, and you always know what to say…"

Ruben felt Avery's hand on his shoulder. "You're the reason I'm here after all… so why? Why do you beat yourself up so much?"

The Crimson's face turned red as he thought about her words. Did she really think about him like that? Avery always hurt him one way or another playfully. She always smiled and spoke in the happiest tone ever. Heck, she was on the floor, laughing when he confessed to her back in Mistral. This was the first time he saw her like this. And it was because of him.

Ruben started chuckling. And then it turned into laughter.

"Huh?" Avery raised her head.

"You... you complimented me!" Ruben felt a large rock hit his face. However, it was not a rock, it was a fist. "Ow!"

"Shut up!" Avery blushed. "It's your fault for moping in the first place!"

"Oh my dear, Daggry. I wasn't moping, it was all a part of my master plan to make a comeback! I shall defeat that dastardly Schnee one day!" Ruben raised his fist while he lay on the ground. "And Aves?"

The fiery girl lowered her fist.

"Thanks for saving me again."

Avery looked down. "It was nothing… you're my best friend after all."

"Ouch. No need to remind-" Ruben suddenly saw a black silhouette jump across the roof. He immediately stood up.

"Ruben?" Avery said.

"I saw something… come on!" Ruben grabbed Avery's hand as he ran after the figure.

* * *

"Sora!" Mond shouted as he and Melo entered the store.

"Oh no." The red haired cashier sighed. "Hi Mond…"

"We were in town so we decided to visit!"

"We?" Sora eyed the boy wearing black.

"This is Melo! He's my partner for the next four years."

"Poor guy, I mean-" Sora raised his hand. "Hi, I'm Sora."

"Yeah… Mond told me about you." Melo said.

"Anyway, I'm guessing you didn't come here just to visit." The cashier crossed his arms.

"I'll have the usual."

Sora reached behind the counter and pulled out a cardboard box.

"Let's see… one box of Valeden, ten packets of cheese cream, and… a jar of assorted peanuts." Sora placed the items on the counter as he called them out.

Mond tried to grab at the food but was stopped by the clerk's arms.

"30 Lien…"

The squirrel boy gulped as he heard the price. "Can I pay you later?"

"Now. Mond."

"Melo?"

"Yeah?" His partner answered

"Half." Mond said with big eyes.

Melo sighed as he placed 15 Lien on the counter.

"Thanks!" Mond cheered as he placed his share down.

"Don't be too easy on him, kid." Sora told Melo. "Thanks for shopping, please come again!"

* * *

"Why do you buy so much cheese?" Melo asked as they left the store. Night had already fallen.

"I like cheese!" Mond exclaimed as he opened a sachet of cheese cream and filled his mouth.

Melo chuckled. "Don't eat too much. You'll ruin your appetite. We still have to meet up with-"

Melo stopped in his tracks. He spotted a figure on the roof across the street. He was wearing black light armor while his hair was black with a red streak. On his arm, a white symbol was visible. However, before Melo could analyze any more, the figure ran across the roof and jumped onto another building.

"Melo?" Mond said. "What's wrong?"

Melo gritted his teeth. He was sure. It was Penumbra.

"Mond, go ahead to the meeting area. I gotta do something."

"What? But Melo-"

Mond's partner dashed off into an alleyway before he could say anything else.

* * *

"Ruben! Slow down!" Avery yelled as she caught up to Ruben. She then felt her scroll vibrate.

Picking it up, she found some sort of symbol on her screen. It was a white P surrounded by a black circle. The curve of the P was not a curve but a jagged edge.

"Who's this?" Ruben asked.

Avery noticed that her partner was receiving the same call. She inhaled before sliding the screen to answer it. Ruben did the same.

 **"Hello, everyone. You might be wondering why I'm calling you all at the same time."** A voice came out from the device. **"I'll make it simple. I want Malkaush Aprikose. You are all in his team so I thought I'd let you know. You have one hour to send him my way in binds… or she dies. Malko knows where I am."**

A picture suddenly popped up on their scroll. Avery almost dropped the device at the sight. It was Velvet bound by her hands and feet and blindfolded.

"No…" Avery said.

* * *

 **"If any of you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure she dies slowly. One hour, Malko… tick tock…"**

"Damn it…" The puppeteer was sure he heard the voice of someone he knew.

The scroll immediately shut off before Harmon took a step back. "Velvet…"

Before any of them moved, their scrolls rang once more. It was Ruben calling this time. The pair quickly answered.

"Guys, we need to meet up," Their leader said.

"Yes but where?" Harmon replied.

"How about the alley behind the coffee shop?" Avery's voice suddenly appeared.

"Sounds good."

"And remember, no one can know or else he's going to kill Velvet." Ruben added.

"Right." Harmon agreed. "We'll meet you guys there immediately; I'll inform Weiss that they can go ahead to supper."

The pianist then shut off the call. "Malko, we have to get going."

The puppeteer nodded and followed with his head down.

* * *

"So what are we going to do?" Avery leaned against the wall as she crossed her arms.

"I'm assuming whoever this guy is isn't alone." Ruben said. "There might be more waiting to ambush us."

"Besides, Velvet's a hostage. He'd kill her before we'd even get the chance to get to her." Harmon added.

"We're running out of time." The fiery girl stomped her foot. "We need to decide on something."

"I'll go." At that point everyone turned to Malko.

"Malko… no. He's going to kill you." Harmon told his partner.

"And what good have I done in my life? Velvet's more important than me. It's my fault she's there in the first place."

"No. We're not sacrificing anyone!" Avery yelled. "If you're going to face him, we're going to face him together."

"Who is he? Why does he want Malko dead anyway?" Harmon asked.

"Judging by the tone… he spoke to Malko as if it was from an old friend." Ruben explained. "He even used Malko's nickname."

"He also knew to kidnap Velvet." The pianist added. "She's special to him."

"Alright." Avery clapped her hands together. "It's probably a trap but we have to save Velvet. Any ideas?"

Ruben held his chin. "I think I got something. We trap the trappers."

Everyone else nodded.

"Alright we need Malko to…" Ruben looked around. "Where is he?"

The rest of team RADR frantically searched for the guy with the orange beanie.

"Oh dear…" Harmon said.

"Where is this guy anyway?" Avery asked.

"He said Malko knows where he is." Ruben answered.

"Hey guys!" Meroch called out as he ran to them with Ace right beside him. "I think we know where he's headed."

* * *

Malko stood at the entrance of his old fight club. Readying his strings, he entered the abandoned establishment. He was going to pay for bringing Velvet into this fight. Entering the viewing platforms, he recalled the dozens of cheering spectators of every fight he had. The seats were dusty and moldy while the cage surrounding the main ring had rust all over. Suddenly, a spotlight shone over the arena. In the middle was Velvet, tied up and crying.

"Velvet!" Malko attached his strings to the cage and pried it open. He jumped down and ran to the faunus. "I'm sorry, Velvet! I shouldn't have-"

The puppeteer tried to untie her but as soon as he touched her, his hand went through. "What?!"

Velvet flickered for a moment before disappearing.

"Oh how advanced technology is today!" A voice came from the rafts.

"Where is she, Damien?!" Malko shouted.

"Out. Probably having dinner with her team. You didn't think I'd actually put her in danger, did you?" Damien dropped down onto the arena and smiled. "After all, she's a victim too."

Malko breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was safe.

"Remember this place? Where you fought and fought and eventually ruined our lives?! The scene of the crime. Where you will die!" Damien swung his arms to the side as saw blades came out of the discs on the back of his hands. The edges glowed green. "It's a shame though. I was hoping your friends would show up. Oh well, I can always make contracts for them."

Malko let his strings loose as he whipped at his old leader. The blades on Damien's hands started spinning as he parried each attack the puppeteer threw at him, laughing the entire time.

At this point, Malko decided on another tactic. Shooting the strings into the roof, he pulled himself up and jumped behind Damien. He had fought in this arena for over a year. He knew all the tricks. He immediately launched his strings and threw Damien across the arena. Landing with a thud, the assassin got up, giggling.

"Hard way it is then." The crazed ex-leader pulled out a pistol from his pocket and shot Malko. The bullet pierced his aura and dug itself into his leg, making him fall onto the ground in pain. "Aura Penetrating bullets! Exactly why I joined Penumbra."

* * *

The rest of team RADR as well as Meroch and Ace stopped in front of the entrance of the underground tunnel. Ruben had explained everything to them on the way since Ace had eavesdropped on their conversation.

"This is it." Meroch said.

"Alright." Ruben nodded. "We need to discern how many enemies we're facing. We can't just go in blindly when Malko and Velvet's life is at risk."

"Actually." Ace said with her scroll out. "I just texted Coco. She said Velvet's with her."

"She's fine?!" Avery yelled as Ace showed them the text.

"So it is a trap." Meroch said.

Without hesitation, Harmon kicked the door open. "Guys! We have to move!"

"Wait! Can't we call the others or even the police?" Avery asked.

"By the time they get here, Malko will have a bullet in his head! We need to move now!" Harmon shouted as he pulled out Relentless Harmony.

The students made their way through the dimly lit tunnel until before Meroch stopped them.

"Everyone, down!" Meroch immediately threw his ice charged chakrams forward. Gunfire echoed as bullets flew towards them. The ice dust managed to freeze the speeding projectiles in mid-air, causing them to drop onto the ground. Several men in black soldier armor came out of the shadows with handguns that glowed green.

"Mercenaries?" Harmon asked.

Meroch stepped back as his chakrams appeared in his hands. "That's Atlas grade military armor."

"Guys! Now's not the time!" Ruben charged forward as they raised their pistols and fired.

"Ruben! Wait!" Avery reached out.

Three bullets headed towards the leader of team RADR as he raised his Aura shield. However, the bullets immediately broke through the shield, barely missing Ruben and draining his Aura right away. Kneeling on the ground out of exhaustion, the scientist took heavy breaths.

 _'My Aura depleted almost instantaneously. What the hell were those?!'_ Ruben gritted his teeth and stood up before Harmon blocked more incoming bullets with his sword.

"What the hell?!" One of the men said.

* * *

Melo watched the battle unfold as he jumped into the shadows and sped past the assailants who moved forward with their guns while some pulled out dual blades.

* * *

"I count twenty." Ace said.

"Alright everyone, don't get hit by the bullets!" Ruben shouted as he led the charge with part of his aura regenerated.

* * *

"Ah sweet music to my ears." Damien smiled as he crouched over his bleeding ex-teammate. "Looks like I get to kill you and your friends after all."

"They'll kick all of your asses." Malko grunted as he began to lose consciousness.

"Maybe. But they won't be able to make it out of this tunnel in one piece." Damien held up a black detonator with a red flick switch. "I guess I'll start with you then."

The assassin put the detonator back on his belt and pulled out a second pistol, aiming it at Malko's head. Before he could pull the trigger, a swift kick hit his head, making him stagger back. Melo landed across the arena on his knees.

"Ah, the prodigal son returns." Damien grinned.

"Zip it!" Melo said as he threw a firebomb at the assassin.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rest of the teenagers fought against their opponents in a flurry of strikes. Ruben fired sniper rounds into a soldier and used him as a shield against the barrage of bullets. Looking to his right, a mercenary raised his handgun only to be pummeled into the wall by his partner who was on fire.

"Thanks, Aves!" The scientist transformed his weapon and spun the sword around; slashing at each mercenary he passed.

Meroch threw his chakrams at two assailants, knocking them into Harmon's wave of fire. Avery grabbed the remaining flames and used it to blow another attacker into the wall. Ace alternated between attacks, each one landing on different assassins.

"Ah!" Harmon raised his sword as bullets grazed the surface.

"Harmon!" Ace combined her blades and threw the giant shuriken at the pianist's attackers.

Ruben and Avery defended the front of the group as they took out more mercenaries. Soon, silence fell upon the tunnel.

"Please tell me that was all of them." Meroch said with heavy breaths.

* * *

"Argh!" Damien rolled to his right, avoiding another firebomb. He fired both of his pistols as Melo retreated into the shadows.

The bomb wielder jumped out from behind the assassin and gave him a kick in the back. Damien turned around and swung his right blade at Melo who ducked and threw a punch to his side. Damien grunted and swung his left blade only to be kicked away by his attacker. Melo took his head and kneed him in the face, depleting his Aura. Damien fell to the ground with a bloody nose.

"Why did you run away? You were a great member of Penumbra. I looked up to people like you." Damien let out a chuckle. "Go ahead. Kill me."

"No. That isn't me. Not anymore." Melo said with a dark expression on his face.

"Well then. It's been a pleasure, Mr. Umbra. Truly." The assassin pulled out his detonator and flicked the switch. Explosions suddenly shook the ground beneath them as the roof began to collapse.

Melo's eyes widened as he looked back at Damien.

"May we find light in the dark."

* * *

"Woah!" Avery yelled as she fell back.

"What was that?!" Harmon yelled.

"Guys!" Melo emerged with Malko on his shoulder. "We need to get out of here!"

"Melo?!" Ruben said in a surprised tone.

"The whole tunnel's collapsing!" Meroch shouted. "We'll never make it in time!"

Ruben's eyes suddenly lit up. "Everyone, gather around!"

The rest of the students nodded as they grouped up. More and more rocks fell as they huddled together.

"Ruben! What are you doing?!" Avery asked.

"Something clever!" Ruben raised his left arm at the ceiling as he activated his gauntlet. The device absorbed everyone's Aura and projected it as a flat shield on top of them. The rest of the tunnel caved in as the debris stacked on top of the force field.

"Aaaaaah!" Ruben held his arm up as long as he could as the weight of the rocks increased.

"Ruben! Keep the shield up!" Melo grabbed the gauntlet on Ruben's arm and emitted a large amount of wind dust, lifting the rocks up long enough for the Crimson's shield to retract.

"Hold on!" Harmon then used a large blast of wind to propel the rocks away from them.

Finally, the students stood in the crater that used to be the maintenance tunnel, staring the faint glow of the shattered moon. They had survived.

"We did it?" Meroch asked.

"We did it!" Avery raised her fist while the rest of them cheered.

Police sirens could be heard as flashlights shone down into the crater.

"Guys!" Grei stood at the edge of the crater with the rest of their friends right behind him.

Against all odds, they had triumphed.

"I guess we have some explaining to do, huh?" Ruben laughed nervously.

* * *

After the weekend had passed, classes resumed. The first day was tiring especially after everything that had happened. Teams RADR and JNPR roamed through the halls.

"I can't believe they made us go to school." Malko told his partner. "I think almost getting killed by my old psychopathic leader is a good reason to take a day off."

"I presume school is as important." Harmon answered. "I'm just glad that's all sorted out."

"My leg still hurts like hell though." Malko looked past Harmon and locked eyes with Velvet who was passing by. Raising his hand, he smiled and waved hello. She smiled back and waved as well before continuing her way.

"Well, you two seem to be on good terms."

"Baby steps, Harms. Baby steps."

"And that was so cool when you raised your arm and like whooosh!" Nora waved her arms around as Ren tried to avoid the incoming fire.

Ruben laughed at her comment. "Still needs a bit more tweaking though. Gotta fix the energy usage. I'm trying to make it so it consumes less Aura."

"That's the spirit!" Avery grinned. "Keep innovating!"

"Crimson…" Weiss, as well as Ruby, walked up to the boy with red hair.

Ruben rolled his eyes. "What is it, Schnee? Come to gloat?"

"Well… I've…" Weiss felt a slight nudge from her partner. "Ruby!"

"Sorry." The scythe wielder smiled innocently.

"Look, what I want to say is sorry. I know I have been a bit of a-"

"Hag?" Ruben said with a smile.

"No! A… bad friend." Weiss held out her right hand. "I'm sorry I said negative things about your family."

Ruben pushed up his glasses and took the handshake from the heiress. "I'm also sorry for calling you out as well. I guess I was a jerk too."

"Yay!" Ruby raised her hands. "We're all friends!"

Weiss suddenly found herself forced into a group hug with Ruben and Avery.

* * *

"You did well." Meroch told his partner as he and the rest of his team exited the classroom.

"Thanks." Ace smiled.

"So you have connections in Vale, huh?" Aurum stoked his chin. "Do you mind sharing them with me?"

Ace shook her head and hid behind Meroch.

"Back off, Aurum." Grei chuckled. "Just to be clear, you guys include us in your next adventure, alright?"

"That depends on the situation." Meroch replied.

"As long as Aurum stays away." Ace peeked out.

"Again with this?" Aurum pouted. "I'll gain your trust someday…"

* * *

"Melo!" Mond waved to his partner who was sitting on a bench. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Melo looked down. Hopefully no one relayed the information of his whereabouts to Penumbra.

"You want one?" Mond held out a cheese packet.

"Hm?" The bomb user glanced at his friend.

"I don't usually share but this is a special occasion." The squirrel boy grinned.

Melo smiled and accepted the offer. Peeling off the wrapper, he bit into the luscious dairy product. "This is good."

"I know right?!"

* * *

 **"Sir, he failed."** Pyonn said as his boss grunted.

"Of course he did. Damien was stupid to take the assignment for himself. This mission was far too personal for him. Oh well, his money still stays with us."

 **"Speaking of personal matters, we have confirmation. It's him."** A holographic picture of Melo popped up.

"Melano…"

"Father." the woman in black stood beside him. "What shall we do?"

Scratching his scar, he stood up. "Prepare a bullhead, Pyonn. We're going to Vale. Melania, pack your belongings."

"Yes, father." Melania bowed.

The man stood by the window, examining the moonlight. He was Pendragon the third. Head of the Umbra family and of Penumbra. Now, his son was in Vale. Luckily, he had planned to go there for a shipment meeting.

Going outside his dark room, he stood on a platform above a factory. The machines grinded and twirled as the production line continued. Hundreds of dark green bullets moved through a conveyor belt and were sorted into boxes.

"How's the progress on bullet production?" Umbra asked.

 **"We should be ready to ship by tomorrow."** Pyonn replied from a small screen next to his door.

"Good. It's almost time. Soon, mankind will have the power to start another Great War."


	11. Chapter 11: A Strange Encounter

**Chapter 11: A Strange Encounter**

A single spark came from the impact of a hammer and the blade of an ax. Brand checked to see if the edges were sharp enough. Night had already fallen over Vale.

"The key to a sharp blade isn't within the material but the way it's crafted." Pax said.

"Is that why we use scraps?" Brand joked. "So I've told you all about me, why haven't you told me anything about you?"

The blacksmith raised his head as he was brushing a blade. "What's there to know? I'm just another student like you who came here to be a huntsman."

"I don't know." Blue put the hot ax into the bucket of water. "Anything personal, maybe? Like your actual name?"

Pax chuckled. "My real name's William Icerya. I'm from team WLKR. How's that?"

"Why the name Pax?"

"It's a nickname from my parents. I never knew why though."

Brand and Pax laughed as they continued their work.

"Hey, guys!" Ruby walked up to them wearing her tank top and rose patterned pants as well as her Beowolf sleeping mask on her forehead. "Working late?"

"Got two orders left." Pax grinned.

"Can I help?" The scythe wielder smiled innocently.

"Not in that you're not, Little Red." The blacksmith pointed at her attire.

"You taking a walk or something, Ruby?" Brand asked.

"Yeah. Just needed to clear my head." Ruby had her hands behind her back.

"You should really get some rest. We have a field trip tomorrow, after all." Brand said.

"Done!" Pax placed the scimitar onto the finished orders table. "Clean up, head out! Let's go, Blue!"

"Yeah!" Brand placed the ax on the table as well. "Stay right there, Ruby. I'll walk you back to the dorms."

"Sure…" Ruby smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile, in team JNPR's room, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were having a conversation with Avery, Ruben, and Grei.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora asked as she jumped up and down on her bed.

"He's become rather scarce ever since he's been fraternizing with Cardin." Ren explained before checking his weapons.

"That's unusual." Grei commented as he leaned against the wall.

"I thought they were arch enemies!" Avery said with an ominous tone, sitting beside Nora.

"Still, who would want to hang out with that creep?" Ruben added.

"That's weird. Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" The hyperactive Valkyrie sprung into the air before landing on Avery.

"Ow!" The fire bender shouted as she sprawled out on the bed with Nora on top of her.

"Sorry!"

"Well, thanks for inviting me over. Goodnight, guys!" Grei said as he went for the door.

"Goodnight, Gray!" Nora said.

"Likewise." Ren nodded.

"I guess we'll get some rest as well." Ruben tapped his partner on the shoulder.

"Bye guys!" Avery waved.

"Do you think Jaune knows what a trouble maker Cardin is?" Nora asked.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." Pyrrha said with an annoyed voice.

* * *

Brand looked up at the night sky as he and Ruby made their way back to the dorm.

"Did you notice anything weird about Jaune?" The red head asked.

"Jaune?" Brand turned his head. "Yeah, got something to do with that bully, Cardin."

"I'm just worried, you know?"

"Aren't you always, Little Red?" Blue smiled.

"Little Red?" Ruby giggled. "Where'd that come from?"

"Oh! Uh! Well!" Brand stuttered. "I-it's just what Pax called you. It's catchy..."

"Yeah, I guess I could get used to it. At least it's better than crater face."

They entered the dormitory and walked up a couple of flights of stairs before arriving on their floor. In front of them stood a certain blonde knight.

"Hey, Jaune!" Ruby greeted.

Turning around, Jaune gasped.

"Heven't seen you in a while." Brand smiled. "Did you lock yourself out again?"

"Oh, uh… Nope!" Jaune raised his scroll. "Got it!"

"So, where have you been lately?" Ruby asked.

"I uh…" the knight sighed. "I messed up."

Blue raised an eyebrow.

"I did something I shouldn't have and now, Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't even talk to me… I'm just starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." Jaune slumped down on the ground, leaning against the door. "I'm a failure."

Brand didn't know how to react. After all, dealing with emotional problems wasn't really his-

"Nope!" Ruby suddenly said.

"Nope?" Jaune raised his head.

 _'Nope?'_

"Nope. You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

"What if I'm a failure at being a leader?"

"Nope." Ruby said as she nodded at Brand. They sat down beside him on each side.

The knight chuckled. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about these kinds of stuff."

"Tell me about it." Brand smirked. "I guess what she's trying to say is that you might have been a failure when you were a kid. Heck you might have even been a failure the first time we met..."

Jaune sank lower and lower each time Blue said failure.

"…but you can't be a failure now. You know why?"

"Uh, because-"

"Because it's not just about you anymore." Ruby abruptly answered. "You got a team now, Jaune. All three of us do. And if we fail, we'll just be bringing them down with us. We have to put our teammates first." Little Red stood up. "And ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. I think that can be you."

The three smiled before Brand spoke up. "I missed this old team."

"Yeah, just the three of us wandering around Beacon, aimlessly." Jaune added.

"We will forever be remembered as team lost!" Ruby raised her fist.

Suddenly, Jaune's scroll went off. "Oh, sorry. I got to take this!"

Brand and Ruby watched as the knight left the hallway and walked down the stairs with a frown on his face.

"Well, it's getting late." Blue said. "Good night, Ruby."

"Wait!" Little Red stopped him. "I almost forgot! Stay right there!"

"Oka-"

Ruby disappeared into her room in a flash as she left behind a trail of rose petals. After a few seconds, she burst out of the door with a brown paper bag in hand.

"What's that?" Brand asked

"Here!" Ruby handed the bag to him.

Opening it, Blue took out a box containing a set of blue headphones. Brand took the device out of the box and examined it.

"Do you like it? It's blue like you! And it's also wireless so you can just pull out your scroll and listen to music anytime!" Ruby grinned.

"Ruby, where did you-"

"I got it when we went to Vale. I just didn't have the time to give it to you with all the crazy stuff happening in the past week. I told you I'd make up for it."

"Ruby, I…" Brand smiled. "…I prefer earphones."

Little Red pouted.

"I'm just kidding!" Blue laughed. "It's great. Thanks, Ruby."

"I'm glad." Ruby opened the door to her room. "Have a good night, Big Blue!"

"Hey! That's not as catchy!"

Sticking her tongue out, Ruby entered her room and closed the door. Brand exhaled and looked at the headphones.

Putting them on, he turned on his scroll. "Snug fit…"

* * *

Back in the room, Melo checked to see if Mond was asleep. As expected, he got knocked out right after drinking a warm glass of milk. Looking across, he found Sable sitting by the table, writing on his notebook.

"Is it helping?" Melo asked.

"I'd rather do some training." Sable complained.

"Writing practices control while at the same time helps you express what you've locked up inside. And hey, you might even get it published."

"Yeah, sure! Publishers would definitely want this much graphic content in their books." The archer dropped the pencil and laid back. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a butterfly knife with a black handle. The blade itself was dull from the lack of sharpening while the letter L was printed on its surface.

"I don't understand." The bomb user lay on his bed. "It's been almost three years since you've had your last attack. What made it come back?"

"It was them." Sable aggressively flicked the knife around. "I recognize the uniforms on the soldiers Malko fought. They killed **him**!"

Melo jumped as his partner flipped the table at full force with a grin on his face. After team RADR got their member back, some soldiers were pulled out from the rubble by the Vale police force. Of course they were dead and the ones who survived the collapse had traces of cyanide in their mouths, suicide pills.

Melo shook off his thoughts and dashed to his friend, holding his shoulders. "Sable! Calm down. Think for a second!"

"They… killed… him…" The archer held his head as a big grin formed on his face.

"Him? You mean…" Melo suddenly widened his eyes. His brother. "Why don't you lie down and rest? We have a field trip tomorrow, after all." Luckily, Sable barely remembers any details occurring during his panic attacks. A good night's rest should do.

After the bomber put his friend to bed, he proceeded to fix the mess from the flipped table. He then found the butterfly knife stuck in the wall.

 _'I guess this belonged to him.'_

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Melo quickly pulled the knife out and hid it behind his back.

"Melo?" Brand pulled down his blue headphones. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine." He smiled. Worst case scenario, he had to leave Beacon and run away again but for now, Melano Umbra wanted to live this lie.

* * *

As the sun shone over the crimson forest of Forever Fall, the first year students, led by Glynda Goodwitch, roamed through its lush, red trees. Countless leaves fell to the ground creating the illusion of rose petal rain.

"Yes, students. The forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee." Glynda lectured. "Professor Peach has asked you all to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The group suddenly stopped as Jaune bumped into Cardin, holding a dozen jars stacked onto a white suitcase. Malko sneered as Cardin turned around and taunted the blonde knight.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." Glynda held up a jar filled with red liquid as an example. "However, this forest is full of the Creatures of Grimm. So be sure to stay by your teammates. We'll rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!"

* * *

Teams BLUS and GAMA headed to the west side of the forest to collect their tree sap. The students looked around at the red trees and prepared for harvest.

"So do we just cut them open?" Sable asked.

"Hm…" Mond flicked out his claws and scratched a piece of bark off of a tree. Red juice oozed out as he grabbed a drop with his left finger and licked it.

"Mond, we're not here to eat it!" Melo told the squirrel boy.

"Well, let's get started then." Aurum sliced the tree with his shield and collected the sap in a jar. Grei and the rest of GAMA followed as well, using their weapons.

Brand shook his head and knelt down, examining the tree. Reaching into one of the pouches on his belt, he pulled out a small metallic instrument that resembled an injection. Knocking on the wood with his knuckles, he inserted it into the trunk.

"Hey, what's that?" Sable asked.

"A sap collector." Blue answered as the red juice flowed through the tool and exited through a hole in the back right into Brand's jar. "I got it in one of the villages near Vale. All you need to do is knock around the tree until you find a spot that isn't hollow. Stick this in and out comes sap."

"That's handy." Grei commented. "You mind if I use that to fill up my jar as well?"

"Hey, chief." Sable walked up to Grei. "Teammates first!"

"Guys, we can take turns, alright?" Meroch felt a tug on his shoulder.

"Can I have a little?" Ace asked.

"Sure." Brand took Ace's jar and filled it with a small amount of tree sap. Handing it back, Ace took a sip.

"This is good." She smiled, holding out the jar to Meroch. "Roch, try some."

"Hey, you two. Don't get too **_SAPPY_**!" Aurum let out a chuckle.

"I feel like killing something." Sable said.

Brand smiled as he collected his device and passed it on. He then felt a sudden chill down his neck. As if something was watching them…

* * *

"Wait up!" Harmon caught up to his partner with three jars in his arms.

"If ya can't keep up, you can't come. Simple as that. " Malko laughed.

Ruben crouched next to a tree and took a jar out. "Aves?"

Avery flicked out her blades and stabbed the tree. "Heeyah!"

Sap poured out as the Crimson filled the container.

"One down." Ruben looked at the remaining empty jars. "Three to go."

The puppeteer groaned. "How long is this going to take?"

"I don't know. Each tree has a different amount of sap." Avery said.

Malko sighed as he put his arms behind his head. His attention went to four students sitting on the ground and leaning on trees, the members of team CRDL. "The hell are those-"

"Malko." Harmon placed a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Don't."

"I know, idiot." Malko sighed. "Guys, can we speed this up?"

"We're going as fast as we can." Ruben said. "Why don't you help out? Maybe then we'd actually be finished on time."

"Harms?" The puppeteer called out.

"On it." Harmon took out Relentless Harmony from his back and swung it out.

The four didn't notice Jaune carrying six jars of sap and bringing them back to Cardin.

* * *

"Alright." Grei put the jars together. "One, two, three… eight jars in total! We're good."

"Hey." Meroch checked his watch. "That was fast. The rendezvous is in thirty minutes."

"What do you guys want to do?" Mond cheerfully asked.

"I'm already preoccupied." Sable said as he sat with his back against the tree, reading one of his many books.

"I guess we can just chill. We can head back in twenty minutes." Brand took out his pocket watch compass to check which direction the meet up point was. They went West so logically, they should head East. The spinner of the compass pointed him in the right direction however, it started spinning like crazy. "Again?"

"Something wrong, Brand?" Grei asked.

"It's just my compass. It's acting weird again." Blue tried tapping the pocket device before it stopped and pointed in one direction. It seemed to stay fixed. Looking up, Brand spotted a tall figure within the trees. He recognized it as the same humanoid Grimm he had seen in the Emerald Forest. His height went past the tree line so it was crouching with its deer like head and sunken red eyes staring right back at him. "You…"

"Ursa! Ursa!"

A scream echoed through the forest followed by a deep roar.

"What was that?" Melo asked.

"Guys!" Aurum turned on his infrared vision. "Multiple Grimm incoming!"

"Alright, we need to get to the rendezvous point now!" Grei said.

Team GAMA hurriedly dashed back as Brand stood there, staring at the crouching Grimm.

"Brand!" Sable nudged his partner's shoulder. "You alright, Blue?"

Brand glanced at the archer then looked back. The Grimm had disappeared. Behind him, the rest of BLUS gathered.

"Alright. Let's move!" Brand took out Cobalt Ravager. The way back wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Team RADR ran towards the source of the roar as three members of team CRDL passed them.

"Ursa! Ursa!" One of them shouted.

"Guys." Ruben stopped as well as his team. "I'll be right back."

Harmon tilted his head. "Ruben, what are you-"

At that moment, the scientist activated his propulsion boots and zoomed into the trees, exiting the brush and getting a great view from above. He spotted an Ursa along with what looked like Cardin and Jaune fighting back. Well, Cardin was on the ground and Jaune was fighting back. Behind them, a large group of Grimm was approaching.

However, that moment didn't last long. In a split second, Ruben lost his balance and plummeted to the ground. "Oh no."

As he got past the leaves and branches, he landed safely in a net of strings. Malko retracted them as Ruben stepped safely onto the ground.

"Ursa, Cardin, and Jaune as well as more Grimm on their way." Ruben then patted the puppeteer on the back. "Thanks by the way."

"Just don't expect me to catch you every time you decide to fling yourself into the air." Malko grunted.

"Guys!" Ruby shouted as she, Pyrrha, and Weiss caught up to them. "Blake and Yang are getting Professor Goodwitch."

"Professor Goodwitch won't get there in time." Ruben said. "We need to move now. There's a horde of Grimm on their way."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, teams GAMA and BLUS ran into a couple of Beowolves and Ursas.

"Push through!" Brand took out both parts of Cobalt Ravager and combined them. Spinning it, he fired a shot at the ground and propelled himself over an Ursa, slicing its back on the way. Sable followed and vaulted over the large Grimm while simultaneously firing a fire arrow at its head, causing it to explode.

Melo threw ice bombs at the two Beowolves in front of him. Mond leapt forward and slashed both Grimm with his claws. Grei activated his semblance and used the gunfire of Hound's Fangs to push himself into a Beowolf, flicking out his blades and cross-slashing the Grimm. Aurum jumped on its head, hitting the Grimm with his shield while Ace slashed her way through using her double blades. Meroch leapt into the air and split his chakrams, landing on it and skating his way across the fields.

"There he is!" Brand pointed. "Jaune!"

Brand watched as a large Ursa brought its claw down on the blonde knight.

* * *

"Those roars are getting louder!" Avery pointed out as they reached a clearing in the forest where Jaune stood face to face with a large Ursa while Cardin lay on the ground, cowering in fear.

Checking his scroll, Jaune saw that his aura was in the red zone. Screaming, the knight charged with his shield held high. However, the Ursa's strike was higher than what Jaune had anticipated. Pyrrha immediately raised her hand and concentrated.

Suddenly, Jaune's shield rose higher, deflecting the Ursa's strike and allowing the blonde knight to slash at its neck. Jaune stood in triumph as the Grimm's head rolled on the ground.

"Uh, what?" Ruby said, blinking.

"How did you…" Weiss asked.

"Well, Ruby has her speed and you have your glyphs. My semblance is polarity." Pyrrha answered.

"Oh, you can control poles." Little Red said in awe.

"No, Ruby. It means she has control over magnetism." Avery explained. "I almost forgot that trick of yours, Pyrrha."

"Magnets are cool too…" Ruby murmured.

"Jaune!" Brand came in, puffing.

"Brand?" Jaune turned around as the rest of team BLUS as well as team GAMA stopped in their tracks.

Aurum let out a whistle as he examined the dead Ursa. "Nice job, Jaune. Cut it clean off."

"Hey, you guys!" Avery waved.

"We need to move. A wave of Grimm is on their way here." Grei explained.

"We know." Ruben said. "Let's pack it up here and head back, yes?"

While the rest grouped up, Jaune approached Cardin with his hand out. The leader of team CRDL reluctantly took it as he was pulled up.

"Just got a message from Yang!" Ruby held up her scroll. "Professor Goodwitch and the rest are waiting for us at the rendezvous point!"

"Alright, let's go!" Jaune said.

Everyone started sprinting to the meeting point while Brand stood still. Turning around, he saw the humanoid Grimm once more staring back at him. Gripping his weapon and gritting his teeth, he made a break for the large Grimm.

"Brand!" Melo turned around.

A couple of Beowolves and Ursa stood in Blue's way. He decided to plow through the countless Grimm, vaulting over them, rolling past them, even taking their hits head on. Jumping on top of an Ursa's head, Brand split his weapon into two and fired both behind him, launching him towards the horned Grimm.

"What are you?!" Brand shouted as he brought his axes down.

The Grimm immediately raised its right arm and slashed Brand with its long claws. Standing over the fallen student, its red, sunken eyes stared right at him. It was like staring into the eyes of death. The Grimm's skull like head tilted in curiosity as Brand got up and readied his axes. However, the monster had suddenly disappeared.

"The hell…" Blue blinked in confusion. But he didn't have time to react. All of a sudden, a Beowolf launched itself at the ax wielder. Brand prepared for the strike however, a stray arrow buried itself in the Grimm's chest. The Beowolf started burning up until it burst into ashes. Looking behind him, he found Sable with his bow out.

"What the hell were you thinking running into those Grimm like that?" The archer asker as he pulled his partner up.

"There was this Grimm that looked like a deer standing on two feet with large claws! And I had him, but he hit me and…" Brand ruffled his hair.

"And they say I'm the crazy one." Sable chuckled. "But let's not forget that we are still surrounded by man eating Satan monsters."

Blue looked around to see that his partner was right. Dozens of Grimm circled the two as they prepared for battle.

"Guess we'll have to fight our way through." Brand reloaded his axes.

"Oh really? I was hoping we could have a tea party!" Sable said sarcastically as he pulled out another fire arrow. Both students readied their stances before the sound of loud propellers was heard. The Grimm ran off as a bullhead landed in a nearby clearing.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Glynda shouted. "You two! Let's go!"

Brand and Sable nodded and ran to the bullhead. They could see the Grimm retreating in herds within the red forest as they got higher in the air. Glynda spoke with the pilot for a minute before turning to the two students.

"I thought I told everyone to retreat. What were you two doing in the middle of a herd of Grimm?!" She scolded.

"I was following this guy." Sable pointed at his partner.

"Ms. Goodwitch, I saw something. A Grimm. It looked like it was leading the rest towards us." Brand explained.

"Mr. Tachyon, a Grimm that commands other Grimm? Never in the history of Remnant have I heard of such a thing." Glynda sighed. "I suggest recuperating with the rest of your team back in Beacon. However, this will be written in both of your incident reports."

Brand leaned against the back of the bullhead. She probably thought he was making stuff up.

"By the way." Glynda turned around. "Ozpin has requested for you and all your friends to be at his office in exactly an hour. Please don't be tardy."

* * *

Mond and Melo stood by the landing platform as they watched the bullhead touch the ground.

"Hi!" The squirrel boy waved at the two as they exited the chopper.

"Hi, Mond." Brand waved back.

"You guys alright?" Melo asked.

"We're fiiiine." Sable leaned on his tall partner. "We had that fight in the bag!"

"You should have let us help." The bomb wielder crossed his arms.

"You only would have gotten in the way." The archer said as he patted Melo on the head.

"Where's everyone else?" Brand asked.

"Oh, they went back to rest." Mond answered. "Speaking of which, I need to sleep."

"Actually, we have to go to Ozpin's in an hour." Blue told them. "This day just never ends…"

* * *

Team BLUS were the last to join teams GAMA, RADR, RWBY, and JNPR in Ozpin's office. Ruby approached the four students as they walked out of the elevator.

She had a concerned look on her face. "Brand, are you okay? We didn't have time to turn around and-"

"I'm fine, Little Red. I can take a hit, remember?" Brand smiled.

"Still though." Ruben crossed his arms. "Why would you run back?"

Blue paused. He knew if he tried to explain everything, they wouldn't believe him. "It's a long story."

"Excuse me, students." Glynda called their attention as Ozpin walked to his desk with his cane in hand. Sitting down, he put his cane down and crossed his hands.

"Now, you may be wondering why I have called all of you here." Ozpin said. "This has to do with what had transpired last week."

Everyone stayed silent. He was of course talking about Damien's attempt to kill Malko.

"We have been digging around for more information about the attackers and believe me, it was not easy to find results." The Professor pushed up his glasses. "They're what are known as Penumbra."

Melo could feel the hair on his neck stand as he heard that name. Looking to Sable, it seemed as if he had things under control. However, his hand was clearly twitching.

"Now, as to why this information was hard to come by..." Ozpin continued. "This organization is made up of assassins and mercenaries for hire. They work in secret and remove all evidence relating to their horrible crimes. No one has ever captured a Penumbra member alive therefore we have little to no leads on them."

"But how about those weapons?" Ruben asked. "They drained my Aura in almost an instant. If it had hit my shield anywhere else, I'd be dead."

"Hm…" Ozpin interlocked his fingers. "That, Mr. Crimson, is a good question. One we will find the answers for."

The Professor then stood up and grabbed his cane. "Now, I want you all to focus on your studies. This matter will be handled by professional huntsmen and huntresses so rest assured that we will find out who these people actually are. You're all dismissed."

* * *

"Jeez!" Mond said as he lay upside down, hanging from the curtain rack. "These Penumbra guys seem really scary."

Jumping onto his mattress, the squirrel boy sat and stared at his silent teammates. Brand was on the bed with his arms crossed and head down, Melo lay sprawled with his hands on his face, and Sable sat at the table, writing on his notebook.

"Guys?" Mond called out.

"I need to read up on Grimm encyclopedias." Blue suddenly darted to the door. "Sable, want to come?"

The archer suddenly stopped moving his hand. "Sure, why not?" He grabbed his notebook and headed out of the room with his partner.

"Bye…" Mond waved. "Melo?"

The bomb wielder stayed silent.

"Melo, is something wrong? You've been acting all weird since we fought-"

"I'm fine, Mond! Stop asking!" Melo suddenly shouted. He glanced at his partner's horrified look before calming down. "I'm sorry, Mond. I didn't mean…"

"It's a-okay!" The squirrel boy said with a positive tone. "You're just stressed right? We all are."

Melo let out a faint smile. "Yeah, stressed…"

* * *

Brand sat on a table with dozens of Grimm books stacked up beside him. He had his blue headphones on as he scanned through each book.

"Nothing in here!" Sable slammed the book he was holding on the table only to get shushed by all the students nearby. "Oh, go kill yourselves."

Blue unhinged the left part of his headset from his ear. "There's still more I haven't looked through yet. Just keep going."

"But this is taking an eternity." The archer complained. "I mean look at these notes."

He held up a piece of paper where Brand had written all the details he could recall of the supposed Grimm that attacked him. "Most of the Grimm are quadrupeds and none of them have devilish deer skulls on their heads or long, bony arms with claws."

Brand shut the book he was reading. "I know what I saw, Sable."

"I know you do."

Blue paused for a moment before taking off his headphones completely. "You believe me right?"

"Of course I do. I've had enough hallucinations to know what's real or not."

Brand listened to his words carefully. "What kind of hallucinations?"

"I have a sort of mental condition, alright? Melo says I sometimes go into a berserk mode or something." Sable curled his hand into a fist. "Just leave it alone for now."

Brand nodded and put his headset back on. Melo had told him about what the archer had gone through. The two continued to search as a girl with black hair watched them from a distance.

* * *

Pyrrha opened the door to the roof and found Jaune standing at the edge, staring at the rest of Beacon lit up during the night.

"No Cardin tonight?" She asked. "I thought you two were best buds."

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry." Jaune faced her. "I was a jerk. You were only trying to be nice and… I-I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head and-"

"Jaune." Pyrrha interrupted. "It's okay."

The blonde knight paused in surprise. After all that he has done, she still forgave him. He smiled as his partner did the same.

"Your team team really misses their leader, you know?" Pyrrha said. "You should come down! Ren made pancaaakes! No syrup though. You can thank Nora for that."

"Wait!" Jaune raised his hand. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened but would you still be willing to help me… to help me become a better fighter!"

Pyrrha turned around, grinning. Walking up to Jaune, she laid her hands on his chest… and pushed him onto the ground.

"Hey!" The blonde knight grunted as he fell flat on his butt.

"Your stance is all wrong; you need to be wider and lower to the ground." Pyrrha explained as she helped him up. "Let's try that again."

* * *

As the week progressed, the students of Beacon started getting used to a normal life again. Well, a normal life if you were in Beacon. Glynda Goodwitch's class had filled seats once more as the Professor stepped onto the stage. All the students were in their combat uniforms.

"Alright, class. Today we will be practicing dual team fights. These are one of the rounds in every Vytal Festival Tournament. Learning to work well with your partner is essential, especially if you don't know who you're against, which is why the participants of the first match will be selected by random instead of by team." The professor took out her scroll and tapped a button. Four pictures appeared above her, two on each side off the wall. The pictures started changing, picking up speed as it progressed. Finally, they started slowing down.

"First pair, Lie Ren and Harmon Rost."

The pianist pulled out his blade and headed for the stage. "Let's go."

Ren nodded and prepared for the fight.

"Second pair, Sable Matsuo…"

The archer smiled. "It's about time."

"…and Blake Belladonna."

Blake shot up as her eyes widened. Glancing at Sable, he only turned his head and walked down to the stage.

"Alright, students." Glynda stood between the pairs on each side. "The match begins in five seconds. Once your Aura is in the red, you are out but if your partner is still capable of fighting, the match shall continue without you."

A timer started counting down from above.

"So how do you want to do this?" Sable asked the bow wearing girl beside him.

Blake paused. "I can take them up front. Use your range to an advantage."

"I can agree on that."

As the timer hit zero, the four students rushed towards each other. Ren pulled out both of his green guns and fired at Blake who used her clone to take the hit, appearing right behind him. She swung the blade of her sword at Ren who parried it with his weapons. Harmon jumped into the air and shot out waves of fire at Sable who ran to the side and took out two ice arrows, shooting them at the pianist. Harmon landed beside Ren and Blake who were still exchanging blows.

Thinking fast, the pianist shot out sound waves behind him and directed them at Blake who dodged out of the way with her semblance. Sable pulled out a fire arrow and shot it at Harmon who raised his weapon and played continuous notes, firing waves to destroy it before it got near him. Ren shot his guns at the archer who back flipped to avoid the bullets. Blake decided to open fire as well, emptying her clip as the other two fighters fell back.

"This isn't working!" Blake told Sable.

"I have an idea. Charge in." The archer said.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Yes I am. Now go!" Sable shouted. "Trust me."

Blake hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes and running straight into Ren and Harmon. The two of them fired ranged attacks at the black haired girl as she dodged and weaved her way forward. Sable prepared his bow and cocked a fire arrow and an electric arrow.

 _'Wait…'_

"Sable, whatever you're going to do, do it-" Blake grunted as a flame wave hit her. She fell onto the floor as Ren and Harmon surrounded her.

 _'Wait…'_

"Sable!" Blake looked up as Harmon raised his sword for a final blow.

"Now!" Sable fired the fire arrow at the center, knocking the other two fighters away from Blake. He then raised his bow and shot the light above with the electric arrow. The electricity surged through the bulb, frying the rest of the lights around and plunging the entire room in darkness.

"Woah!" Aurum exclaimed as he turned on his night vision. He saw Sable, with glowing eyes, fire a single arrow at Harmon who then fell to the ground.

All the crowd could hear was the sound of gunfire and hits as the lights came back on. Blake stood over her two opponents with all three of their Aura in the red.

"Well." Glynda said as she stood next to a power box at the other end of the classroom. "That was a remarkable use of your environment but Mr. Matsuo, please never do that again. The electric circuits are Beacon's property after all. I hope you all learned about trusting your partner and creating a well formed strategy. We shall have a ten minute break before moving on to the next match."

"What was that?!" Blake walked up to Sable, furious.

"What? We won didn't we?" The Archer crossed his arms.

A look of disgust appeared on the ebony haired girl's face. "You used me for bait. And for what?"

Sable sighed as he folded his bow and placed it on his back. "You can see really well in the dark…"

The archer smiled as he left the stage leaving a fuming Blake behind.

* * *

Pyrrha led Jaune onto the roof. The stars blanketed the night sky while the shattered moon continued to shine.

"Huh?" The blonde knight noticed two people standing in front of him. Both had yellow hair, one a girl and the other a boy. "You guys?"

"Heyooo!" Yang waved along with Aurum.

"What are you doing here?" Jaune asked.

"Avery recommended them." Pyrrha answered. "She said they train a lot in the art of combat. I thought they might help you learn faster."

"Well I actually rely on instinct." Yang said. "Aurum's really the one who knows his stuff."

"Correct." The soldier smiled. "I have undergone intense Atlas training regimens. Jaune, after I'm done with you, you'll be a fine soldier!"

The blonde knight raised his head and gulped. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Hey, I know. I'll find some training books!" The blonde brawler headed for the door. "I'll check out the library. Be back in a bit!"

"Alright!" Aurum pointed at Jaune. "Time to begin! Let's start with push-ups."

Jaune slumped over. "Aa…"

* * *

"…ah!" Brand put down another book beside him as the students in the library continued to wander.

"You going to give up?" His partner who sat beside him asked.

"I just don't get it. It's not in any known Grimm guides."

"Did you try mythology?" Sable suggested.

"Those books are just stories. I'm trying to look for something real."

"Yeah, but it's worth a shot, isn't it?"

"I don't know, Sable. The library's gonna close soon. I'll just look for more info in the huntsman section."

"Alright." Sable stood up and patted his partner on the back. "In that case, I'll go ahead and get some shut-eye."

"See you back in the room then."

"Sure."

Brand watched as Sable left the library. Unfortunately, he had a lot of work to do. Standing up with an encyclopedia in his hands, he was startled to hear his name called.

"Brand!"

"Ah!" Blue dropped the book onto the ground.

Yang chuckled. "Did I startle you?"

"Yes! Don't do that." Brand bent over and picked up the encyclopedia. "What are you doing here anyway?"

The blonde brawler held out a book with the words 'Combat for Dummies' on the cover. "Aurum and I are helping Pyrrha train Jaune."

"And how's that going?"

* * *

"Come on, Jaune! Five more!" Aurum shouted as Jaune pushed his body off the ground.

"I think I ruptured my spleen!" The blonde knight collapsed onto the ground.

* * *

"It should be going fine. I hope." Yang smiled. "Say, what's that?" She pointed at the book in Brand's hands.

"Just some homework." Brand lied.

"Oh, well. I gotta get back to the roof. Who knows what kind of torture Aurum's inducing." The blonde brawler waved as she left the aisle. "I'll see ya around!"

"Yeah…"

* * *

Brand ruffled his hair as he checked his pocket watch. The library was going to close and he still hasn't found anything on the Grimm he had encountered. Burying his face into the book in his hands, he groaned. All of a sudden, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Blake?" Blue raised his head.

"Where's Sable?" The girl with a black bow asked.

"He went ahead to get some rest. Why?"

"You need to be careful around him." Blake said in a serious tone. "Something tells me he's not as friendly as he pretends to be. He might end up using you like he used me earlier."

"Really?" Brand sighed. "Look, Sable said he has a mental problem so he can be a little insane in his decisions. He lost his brother after all."

Blake's eyes widened. "I-I didn't know."

"Look, Blake. I appreciate the warning…" Blue stood up and put the book on top of a pile. "But don't come to the conclusion that my partner is an uncaring, mindless machine."

With that, the ax wielder left to return the borrowed books to their proper shelves. Blake thought about Brand's insane partner. Then she remembered what he had said.

 _'Looking past the cover, the story it has to tell is much more intriguing.'_

* * *

Blue yawned after inserting the last book into the shelf. _'I'm never going to find this thing at this rate…'_

He then remembered that Sable had said something about checking the mythology section. _'I guess I have nothing to lose now.'_

Brand headed for the section across the building. All folktales and legends were located here. Dozens of tales passed down from generation to generation. Looking at the shelves, he picked out a book entitled 'Legends of Remnant'. Opening it, he turned to the pages relating to Grimm.

"Huh." Brand found a unique painting of a humanoid shadow stretching over the other Grimm. Beside it were twenty four artifacts. All of them were chess pieces! Blue tried flipping the pages but there weren't any paragraphs relating to the painting. Just the name of the art: 'Overlord'.


	12. Chapter 12: What We Cannot See

**Chapter 12: What We Cannot See**

 ** _Vacuo – 5 Years Ago_**

 _The moonlight swept through the dusty window next to a boy with brown hair who gazed at the sky with awe. He waited patiently before hearing a thud on the roof above him. Quickly, he hid beside the windowsill and listened intently. A dark figure entered through and stepped carefully onto the wooden floor below._

 _"It's you…" the boy said. "You're the vigilante from TV."_

 _The figure immediately stumbled back and pulled down the black mask that was covering his face._

 _"Sable?! Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"_

 _"Lance, come on! This is awesome. Why didn't you tell me?" He had a grin on his face. He had watched the so-called Vacuo Swordsman who had stopped multiple attacks from Grimm and even White Fang. All the kids in the orphanage looked up to him. Huntsmen and Huntresses in Vacuo were spread out and very expensive to hire so the vigilante was there whenever no one else was. Sable admired him and knowing that his brother was the vigilante made it even better._

 _"Look, little bro." His brother sat on the bed. "What I do, I don't do it for fun or because I want to prove myself. I do it because it's right."_

 _"So can I help?" The boy asked without taking in anything his brother said._

 _"No." Lance ruffled his brother's hair. "It's too dangerous."_

 _"Please? I'll take your chores if you want."_

 _"Sable."_

 _"Or else! Or else… I'll tell Ms. Dunehall."_

 _"Sable, please."_

 _"Or Alana, you like her right? Maybe she'll actually-"_

 _"Sable!" Lance grabbed his brother's shoulders. "You can't go with me and you can't tell anyone either!"_

 _The little boy was caught off guard by the sudden burst of anger before his big brother calmed down._

 _"I'm sorry… it's just, you're my only family left, Sable. The rest of the orphanage may be our family too but nothing beats blood. I don't want to lose you, little bro."_

 _Sable looked down. "Then teach me how to fight."_

 _"What?" Lance let go._

 _"You heard me. Since we don't have enough money to go to Shade Academy, I want you to teach me how to fight."_

 _"Sable, no… I-"_

 _"Hey, even if I don't go with you when you do your 'heroic deeds', I can still defend myself in case of emergencies. It's a win-win situation."_

 _Lance paused. It was usually around this time that children would begin their combat education and since he and Sable were orphans, they never got the chance to attend an actual school. Lance had learned what he knew from their parents before they disappeared as well as the combat books in the orphanage. Sable had read each volume thoroughly but he never got the chance to practice what was written in them._

 _"Fine, we can start tomorrow."_

 _"Already?" Sable asked in a surprised tone._

 _"You're going to complain now?"_

 _"Oh." The boy jumped into the air and hugged his brother. "No way! You won't regret this!"_

 _Lance hugged back. 'I really hope I won't.'_

* * *

 ** _Vale - Present Day_**

Two wooden doors creaked open as Oobleck and Brand stepped into a dim room. Lamps overhead shone but barely illuminated the area. The temperature was cold since the entire place was air conditioned in order to preserve the items inside.

"They should be around here," the professor said as he scanned the multiple crates that stacked on top of each other. "Ah, here we are." Oobleck opened a crate. A hiss came from the box as he pulled out a black briefcase and opened it. Inside were six chess pieces. Brand remembered how shiny they were.

"These are the six artifacts that you recovered from the Rift Temple. They are also the artifacts Ozpin used for your initiation," Oobleck explained. "The rest of them were recovered from different Rift Temples around Remnant."

"Rift Temples… I didn't know they had a name," Brand said.

"Yes, well, their names were derived from their main purpose. You see, Mr. Tachyon, our ancestors before believed that higher beings existed, beings powerful enough to wipe out the entire world in one sweep. They erected these temples in hopes of appeasing these so called gods. And the only way to reach them?"

"Are through rifts," Brand continued.

"Precisely." The professor pushed up his glasses. "Now, may I ask why you want to borrow these important pieces of history?"

"Hm?" Blue already had the suitcase in his arms. "Oh, uh… research project!" He smiled.

"Very well. Professor Ozpin said you were the one who retrieved those artifacts in the first place, giving you full custody."

"Okay! Thanks Professor Oobleck!" Brand waved as he left the storage house.

* * *

Back at the room, the rest of team BLUS waited for their leader to return. Sable sat at the desk, reading his book intently with his feet resting on top of the table.

"So these chess pieces are the same ones we retrieved from the initiation?" Melo asked.

"Mhm," the archer lazily replied.

"And they're supposed to help us find some big, humanoid Grimm that has the ability to command other Grimm?"

"Mhm."

"That sounds…"

"Awesome!" Mond jumped into the air. "So if this is a Grimm that no one has seen before, does that mean once we find it we can name it?"

"I guess," Melo told his partner.

The door suddenly burst open as Brand came in with a black briefcase.

"Got em!" Blue placed the case on his bed and opened it.

"Oooh, shiny…" Mond stared at them.

"So what's the plan then, chief?" Sable stood up and put his book down.

"If my theory is correct, then the reason that Grimm is following me is because of these." Brand picked up a gold rook. "I remember seeing a symbol similar to the mask that Grimm wore etched into the ground in the temple I retrieved these artifacts from. It might have been some sort of guardian to that particular temple."

"So you're going to use them as bait?" Melo asked.

"Precisely."

"But where though?" Mond added.

The four stayed silent until Melo spoke up. "No… no no no. Please tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."

"Sorry, Melo." Brand placed the piece back into the case. "We're heading back to Forever Fall."

* * *

 ** _Vacuo - 4 Years Ago_**

 _A small town sat within the vast dunes. Sand blew across the land while the inhabitants roamed across the market stalls, hoping to buy their goods. Two brothers sat on the roof of one of the small buildings._

 _"Every semblance of every member of the Matsuo family has one thing in common. Can you guess what?" Lance paced back and forth in front of his attentive brother._

 _"Is it wasting time?" Sable retorted._

 _The samurai deadpanned. "You have your super sight, I have super hearing. See the pattern?"_

 _"Senses, yeah I get it," his brother answered. "It's the same story you tell me every day."_

 _"It's important to remember your roots, little bro, especially when we're the only ones left." Lance had a sad look on his face. He had enjoyed the little memories he had with his parents, but unfortunately Sable was too young to remember them. "So, since you can see very far and very well…"_

 _The samurai grabbed a loaded pistol off of the table beside them which had other weapons such as a rifle, sword, and bow._

 _Examining the weapon, Lance handed it to Sable. "…I think you should be a ranged fighter."_

 _His brother took the gun then stared at the table. "Why can't I use the bow?"_

 _"What?" Lance followed his gaze. "Bows are too hard, Sable. We'll get to them eventually but in the meantime, I want you to know how to shoot."_

 _"Bows aren't hard. Guns are too easy."_

 _"Wanna put your money where your mouth is then?" Lance smiled._

 _Sable just ignored him and shot a bottle sitting on the roof of the building several feet away. He then aimed at the wall beside the bottle and managed to carve a smiley face using the bullets. Pulling the trigger once more, he found the clip empty._

 _"Okay…" Lance said. "I guess we can start with the bow."_

 _"Are you kids firing weapons up there again?!" The voice of an old man echoed from downstairs._

 _"Shoot," the samurai exclaimed._

 _"Him?"_

 _"Sable."_

 _"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Sable grabbed the bow and put it around his shoulder while Lance went for the rest of the weapons. The two brothers then jumped off the roof and landed on the next building before an angry old man came onto the roof._

 _"You hooligans stay away from my shop!"_

 _"Sorry, Mr. Gonzales!" Lance laughed along with his brother as they made their way back to the orphanage, back to their home._

* * *

 ** _Vale - Present Day_**

"Alright." Brand and his team gathered in their room, wearing their combat outfits. "Here's the plan: we sneak through to the border of the school when night falls. They have a big wall separating the forest from Beacon along with several watch towers connecting them. There, Melo will use his semblance to sneak up to any light source or guard in our way and take 'em out."

"Non-lethally," the bomber added.

"Right."

"Aw." Sable frowned.

"Once we're clear, Melo will make his way to the other side of the wall while Mond will boost me and Sable over. Mond, you'll follow after us."

"Roger!" The squirrel boy saluted. "By the way, isn't this all against the rules or something?"

"Only if we're caught." The archer grinned.

"After arriving in the forest, we set down the chess pieces in the center of the location I mapped out. We'll be hiding in the trees while we wait for the Grimm. I can set up a trap to stun it before we go in," Brand continued. "Oh! And don't forget to take multiple pictures. Everything clear?"

The rest of the members nodded in unison.

"Alright, BLUS. Let's go." Brand grabbed his travel pack from the closet and headed out.

* * *

Darkness crept over Beacon as the four students backed up against the wall of the library. Melo tiptoed forward before turning around. Mond then gave him some hand signals.

"What?" the bomber whispered.

Brand stepped out from behind the squirrel boy. "Just go."

Melo nodded and dove into the shadows, speeding his way to the side of the wall where a guard was sitting on top of a watchtower, moving the spotlight around at the forest. Slowly coming out, the bomber hit the guard in the head, knocking him out cold.

The bomber then waved at the rest of his team to signal that the coast was clear. Brand then led his teammates to the wall. Sable was up first. Mond held the Archer's foot as he pushed him up with full force. Sable launched into the air and landed in one of the trees on the other side.

The squirrel boy then gestured for Brand to go next. Before he did, Blue glanced at the roof of the library. Some sort of figure was dashing through the air.

"Brand? What's wrong?" Mond asked his leader.

 _'Might be watchmen,'_ Blue assumed. "Let's get over, quick."

Mond launched him over as he fell down, missing the tree and hitting the ground.

"Crap." Brand rubbed his head.

"We good?" Sable jumped down from the tree and was joined by Melo and Mond who also made it across.

"Yeah. Let's move." Blue replied as he put his pack back on his shoulders.

* * *

Team BLUS dashed through the forest of Forever Fall, blanketed only by the moonlight. Red leaves continuously fell as the students kept an eye on the shadows for any glowing eyes.

"We shouldn't stray too far from the school nor should we stick too close." Brand told them as he took out his pocket watch and checked the compass. Still normal. Looking ahead, he stopped in his tracks. In front of him was a small pond littered with red leaves. Behind the body of water, a large tree sat, extending its branches outward. "This is the place."

"Yeah, we can set the trap here." Melo cracked his knuckles.

"Alright, Sable you head up to the tree and keep a lookout for anything on their way here." Brand said. "Oh and hand me an electric arrow please."

"Sure, don't hurt yourself." Sable reached for his quiver and handed his leader the arrow.

"Mond, follow him and set up camp on that tree." Blue handed his travel pack to the squirrel boy. "There's some food and water in there."

"Roger!" Mond grabbed the backpack and scurried up the large tree.

"Melo I need you to help me gather some wood. Shape doesn't matter but make sure it's at least sharp and the size of your hand."

"How exactly am I supposed to cut wood with bombs?" Melo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! Here." Brand handed him one of his axes. The bomber stumbled back at the weight of the weapon as the blades stuck out.

"Let's try to get everything done by midnight alright?"

* * *

"Where is it...?" Mond rustled around Brand's bag and took out some canned food along with a large canteen of water. He felt around until he found a packet of cheese. Grinning, he hastily ripped it open and took a bite. He chewed as he looked over to Sable who was reading while resting on a branch.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be the lookout?" the squirrel boy asked.

"Don't worry, as long as we don't emit negative emotions, the Grimm won't find us," the archer said as he flipped a page.

"How about people?"

"Who would be stupid enough to be in the middle of a Grimm infested forest in the middle of the night?" Sable asked. "Oh wait. Us."

Mond just ate the rest of his cheese before speaking again. "So how long is this going to take?"

"Probably going to be forever."

"So-"

"Are you going to keep asking questions all night?" Sable lowered his book. "Because I don't have all the answers."

"Sorry…" Mond looked down.

"Sable!" A voice came from below. Melo unloaded an armful of wood at the trunk. "Be nice!"

The bomber then ran off with his axe to meet their leader who was also gathering some extra supplies.

The archer sighed. "Fine. What do you want to talk about, Mond?"

The squirrel boy's face lit up at the question. "Oh! Oh! You wanna see a magic trick?"

Sable tilted his head. "Do I have a choice?"

"Okay! Okay!" Mond reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. "Alright, pick one!"

"Oh, how original." The archer took a card and examined it. Jack of Diamonds.

"Alright, put it back in the deck without showing me!"

Sable followed the squirrel boy's orders and put his card near the bottom of the deck. Mond then proceeded to shuffle the cards, getting faster and faster as he moved his hands.

Then he threw all of the cards into the air. They floated for a bit before Mond flicked out his claws and slashed at the falling cards. Thousands of pieces of paper gathered on the tree before Mond retracted the claws and caught a single card.

"Is this it?" He showed it to Sable. Jack of Diamonds.

"Well damn," the archer remarked. "You may have wasted an entire deck of cards but where'd you learn tricks like that?"

Mond smiled and scratched his head. "Well, I've done a lot of tricks for my brother back in Mistral."

Sable felt a slight shiver as he heard that word. "You have a brother?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! His name's Caiden. He's the best little brother I could ever ask for!"

The archer smiled. "Yeah… brothers are great."

* * *

 ** _Vacuo - 3 Years Ago_**

 _"Boarbatusk." Lance sat on a chair in a room filled with old mattresses, flicking a butterfly knife with his right hand before passing it to Sable who was lying on his bed._

 _Catching it, the archer started spinning it around while speaking. "First attack is a charge. Dodge to the side, penetrate underbelly. Ursa!"_

 _Sable threw the knife back to his brother who caught it and continued playing with it. "Slow but strong. Avoid paws and jaws and aim for the neck. Ground Dweller!"_

 _"What?" the archer said as he caught the knife._

 _"Ground Dweller, y'know, giant centipede?"_

 _"Haven't heard of that one yet."_

 _"Well the best way to learn about Grimm is through experience. Maybe we should go to Vale one of these days."_

 _Sable just rolled his eyes before passing the knife back to his brother. "Yeah, with what money?"_

 _Lance glanced at his brother. "Hey, it's not that bad. I mean, the orphanage takes care of us. It's not a bad place."_

 _"We're barely surviving out here, Lance," the archer said. "I don't know. I just want to get out of this wasteland of a region."_

 _"Hey." The samurai reached for a box behind his chair. "Catch."_

 _Sable raised his right hand and caught a bow that looked like it had been folded inward. The edges were blades that protruded outward while the center had two spikes. "What is-?"_

 _"I had it custom made for you from the blacksmith downtown. It wiped out most of my savings but hey, you'll need a decent weapon to fight crime with."_

 _"Wait. You're serious?! I can come with you?!" The archer's face lit up._

 _"You've come a long way, little bro. Of course you can." Lance smiled._

 _"Thank you so much!"_

 _"So what are you going to call it?"_

 _Sable stared at his weapon and flicked it into its bow form. "Final Whisper."_

* * *

 ** _Forever Fall – Present Day_**

"Okay, bring 'em together, Melo!" Brand said.

The bomber piled up all the wood they had gathered into a circle about the size of a tire. Brand then took the electric arrow and a rubber glove from his coat pockets. Tying the glove tightly around the tip of the arrow, he made his way to the pond.

"What exactly do you plan on doing?" Melo asked.

"Just get me some pieces of wood one by one while I figure this out." Brand was now knee deep into the water, holding the arrow above with his right hand, trying to avoid setting it off. "Oh! Make sure they're sharp!"

The bomber nodded and went to retrieve the wood.

Brand knelt down and reached for his flashlight with his left hand. Turning it on, he shined it at the pond's floor. Dirt scattered around as he felt the ground. He quickly stood up with a grunt and exhaled.

"What the hell did you do?" Melo stood at the edge of the water staring at his leader's soaked arms.

"Just hand me the wood please." Brand held out his hand.

"I'm not going into the water."

"Oh, come on. Hard work ain't going to be clean all the time."

Melo sighed and threw the pieces at his leader who fumbled with them before they fell into the water.

"Jeez." Blue gathered the pieces together. Luckily they were light enough to float. "This should work…"

* * *

Team BLUS sat on top of the large tree overlooking the pond. In the center, a single gold rook sat on top of an electric arrow whose tip was wrapped inside a rubber glove and punctured by several sharpened wooden spikes dug deep into the ground.

Brand took off his trench coat and set it aside to dry as he ate from a can of corned beef with a metal spoon. Beside him sat his pocket watch which he was watching intently.

"So how exactly does this work?" Melo asked as he glanced at the chess piece in the middle of the pond.

Blue swallowed his food. "Picture the Grimm finding that chess piece. In theory, that's what he's looking for. So once he picks it up or even moves any of the spikes, the water will seep into the glove and touch the electric arrow."

"Electrocuting the entire pond," Sable continued. "That sounds like quite the death trap."

"And once he goes zap, we attack, right?" Mond asked.

"That's right." Brand put another spoon of beef into his mouth. "All that's left is to wait. My compass should be able to tell if the Grimm's near."

Silence fell as the team waited. Minutes passed and then hours. It was around 4 AM when Mond started snoring.

"Well, here we go…" Melo yawned as he put a blanket over his partner. He glanced over to Sable who was still reading his book using the moonlight, then over to Brand who still had his eyes on his compass and his headphones on his head.

"Nothing yet?" the bomber asked after tapping his leader on the shoulder.

Brand lifted the left side of his headphones. "Nope."

"What if it isn't attracted to the artifacts, Brand? What if it's asleep? What if it doesn't even exi-"

"Look, Melo," Blue interrupted. "If you don't believe me, feel free to leave."

"You know I can't do that. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but this is the last time we do something this crazy, okay?"

His leader just nodded and looked back at his pocket watch.

"I'm gonna take a leak guys." Sable stood up and put his book down.

"Don't go too far," Melo reminded him.

"Try to be quiet too," Brand added.

"Sure, I'll try to piss quietly." The archer jumped down from the tree and headed out. He walked for a few minutes before finding a nice tree to unload his fury upon.

After zipping up, he heard something from the distance. It was talking. He was sure that wasn't his team, they were in the other direction. Peeking around, he activated his semblance. He saw shadows of humanoid figures strolling around Forever Fall.

 _'I see we're not the only stupid people here.'_ he thought as he approached the figures carefully, hiding behind each tree on the way.

Sable kept going until he was close enough to be within hearing range.

"How far is it?! Seriously," a male voice said.

The archer climbed up the tree he hid behind and sat, listening to the conversation.

 **"Not far."** This voice was a bit distorted, sounding like it was coming from a scroll. **"Try to be more positive. The Grimm are attracted to negativity."**

"The only negativity I have is from knowing that what I paid for isn't in town but in some cave in the middle of a Grimm infested forest!"

 **"Hey, that's why I sent you with an escort."**

Sable peeked through the leaves. There was a group of five people passing by. One looked different but he recognized the other four. They each had the same uniform, a black version of Atlas armor along with red visors. The archer's eyes lit up as he felt himself lose control.

 _"You're going to kill them, right?"_

Sable turned to his right. His brother sat on the branch beside him, looking at his own killers.

 _"Kill them for me, Sable. Make sure they suffer."_ Lance faced him with cold eyes. _"I want my revenge."_

The archer closed his eyes and seethed. "Kill."

A loud blood curdling scream rang out as Sable landed on top of a soldier with Final Whisper in its blade form. He drove it into the man's chest, only to be blocked by his aura. Shoving the crazed archer off, the man fired his gun. Sable quickly swerved to the side and slashed at him, staggering him back into a trunk.

The other three raised their weapons as he immediately threw an explosive fire arrow from his quiver. The explosion stunned the soldiers long enough for Sable to knock them all out. Choosing one, he started drilling into the man's chest with his weapon.

"Die, die, die!" the archer yelled before his opponent's Aura broke.

But before he could land the killing blow, a stray blast knocked Sable to the side. He lay on his back, staring at the shattered moon.

"Well I have to admit, that was impressive. Not a lot of people have the gall to try and pull off a stunt like that on me," a voice on his right said. "Still, I wonder why some kid is in the middle of Forever Fall at a time like this."

Sable tried to stand up, but he wheezed in pain as a sudden pressure was put on his chest by a cane with a red tip.

"Don't move, psycho. I hate to put a hole in your chest."

The archer squinted his eyes and got a better look at his attacker. He wore a white trench coat with a bowler hat on his head. His orange hair dropped to the side of his face.

"The name's Roman Torchwick." He smiled. "Perhaps you've heard of me."


	13. Chapter 13: What We Refuse To Believe

**Chapter 13: What We Refuse To Believe**

"Hey, wake up."

Sable shifted his head. His vision was blurry but he could see someone in front of him.

"L-lance?" The archer asked.

"C'mon, it's almost time for lunch. You love Ms. Dunehall's cooking."

Sable blinked and found himself back in their room at the orphanage. Lance made his way out the door before turning around.

"I'll go ahead then." The sounds of gunfire and screaming came from outside. The voices screeched throughout Sable's eardrums. Echoing again and again without stopping.

"Lance, wait!" The Archer immediately stood up and rushed at his brother only to be knocked to the ground. He gazed upon his brother's bloody fist which he held proudly.

"You're still weak. Why did I have to rely on you to save me…"

"No! I-" Sable felt a kick hit his face as he faded into darkness.

* * *

"Damn it!" Roman pushed the soldier off of the boy. Sable, himself, was bound by the wrists and ankles. "Don't be too harsh on his face!"

"He ain't even answering our questions, just mumbling nonsense. I say we kill him," the thug raised his rifle.

"What if Ozpin and the rest of Beacon come raining down on us? I don't need that kind of heat before the preparations are done."

"What if he wakes up and starts trying to kill us again?"

"Well, keep him tied then!" Roman flipped his cane and proceeded outside. "Stupid brutes…"

The group had found refuge under a tall tree after the brown archer had attacked them. It seemed like he had a screw loose in his head. Pulling out a cigar and a lighter, the crime boss started smoking. He scanned the forest before hearing a loud explosion. As the fire died down, three figures were seen in the distance, Grimm surrounding them from all sides.

"Great!" He quickly turned around. "Grab our little bowman and let's move. His friends are getting closer."

The rest of the mercenaries nodded as one of them put Sable on his shoulder. Roman then pulled out his scroll and dialled a number.

"Pyonn, there's people in the forest. I thought you said this would be a smooth exchange."

 **"Relax, Torchwick. Use your scroll to scan your surroundings."**

Roman clicked his tongue and raised the camera towards the fight.

 **"Scanners indicate three humanoid signatures only."**

"Professors then? Huntsmen? Huntresses?"

 **"Hard to tell. For now, focus on getting to that cave."** Pyonn shut off his screen immediately.

"What bu-" Roman stomped his foot down. "I just had to spend my money on these fools!"

He looked back at the figures. They weren't far off but at least the Grimm served as good distractions.

* * *

 ** _A few minutes earlier_**

Melo felt his eyes get heavy as he leaned against a branch. He was too tired to check the time but he knew it was really late. In the corner of his eye, Brand was still staring at the trap intently. He didn't know how his leader stayed awake with the cool breeze blowing through Forever Fall. Frankly, Melo didn't want to care. For now he just wanted to-

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" A loud scream came from the forest which jolted the bomber up. He noticed Brand had been alerted to the sound as well.

"Was that Sable?" Blue asked.

Melo stood up and scanned the forest. The voice was definitely Sable's except he didn't sound like he was in trouble, more like someone else was in trouble. "We need to go. Now."

Brand nodded but noticed that the squirrel boy was still asleep. Sighing, he grabbed Mond's arm and pulled him up. "Wake up, Mond!"

"Huh, wha-" Mond was immediately dragged off the tree, landing on the ground with a thud.

"This way!" Melo led the team towards the source of the shout. As they were running, they could hear growls coming from the surrounding area. They weren't the only ones heading towards Sable.

"Wait!" Brand stopped and picked something up. "It's Sable's bow."

Melo and Mond glanced at the familiar looking weapon as Blue slung it around his arm.

"Where'd he go?" the squirrel boy asked.

"We'll have to figure that out later, guys." The bomber charged some dust in his palms as two Ursa and a pack of Beowolves surrounded them. Mond instinctively released his claws and jumped into the fray, slashing Grimm from left to right.

Melo charged up a fireball and released it onto the Grimm in front him. The explosion spiralled upwards as the sound roared across the forest. The bomber was charging up another blast before Brand pulled back his arm. "Melo! No explosions, the teachers will pinpoint our location!"

The bomber turned around and gave his leader a questioning look "We're under attack by a horde of Grimm and getting caught is what you worry about?!"

Brand gave a pleading look as Melo sighed. He shut off Vashta Nerada and proceeded to bring out Sable's bow. "So how do you expect me to fight then?"

"Oh!" Blue slung out Final Whisper and passed it to Melo. The bow shifted into its blade form as the bomber hastily gripped it.

"You can't be serious…"

"You'll be fine!"

"I'm still a bit sleepy…" Mond said after flipping back, landing right in the middle of his team members. The three young men stood side-by-side, holding their weapons with a tight grip.

Countless thoughts raced through Brand's mind as he examined the fight in front of him. There were, thankfully, only two Ursa so taking them out should be the priority. All that left was the pack of Beowolves circling around the trio, almost taunting them.

"We can't fight for long or we might lose Sable," Melo said.

Yes. Right. Sable. Considering the scream they heard, Sable probably got himself into a fight. The voice definitely belonged to him and its tone was aggressive. There was definitely a struggle with the grass having slight burn marks. He probably wasn't fighting Grimm, however. It would make sense if the assailants were people. After all, that scream is what attracted the Grimm in the first place. Whoever took Sable probably ran off in a hurry, leaving his bow behind.

"Brand?" the squirrel boy called out.

"Yes, Mond?"

"They're dead."

Blue looked around and found Melo and Mond standing over a couple of dead, decaying Grimm. He had actually zoned out in the middle of battle.

"You were just standing there. You okay?" Melo asked.

"Y-yeah… just happens when I think too much." Blue scratched his head. "Anyway, Sable was probably taken by people."

"There are people here?" Mond tilted his head. "Teachers?"

"I don't think so. Why would Sable try to fight teachers? No… whoever it was, they must've triggered his kill mode."

The squirrel boy gulped. "Kill… mode?"

"Oh, it's what Sable and I decided to call his condition whenever he snaps and wants to murder everyone around him. Melo gets it." Brand glanced at the bomber who held his head down. "Melo?"

He only balled his hand into fist. The roars of what sounded like a second wave of Grimm were coming closer. "We need to get to Sable as soon as possible."

* * *

"This better be it." Roman stared at the cave in front of him before checking back with his scroll.

 **"Yes, the location matches up. The equipment inside should allow you to escape Forever Fall with ease,"** Pyonn explained.

"Alright, flashlights on, gentlemen. I've had enough surprises for one night."

Two men moved into the caves with the flashlights at the end of their rifles illuminating the path.

"What do we do with the kid?" the mercenary holding Sable asked Torchwick.

"Just stay here. Make sure he's tied up good and might as well keep that gun of yours pointed at his head just in case. Once we're almost out of Forever Fall, we can throw him to the Grimm." Roman twirled his cane around before following his escort into the dark cave. "So, Pyonn, how are we going to escape this dreaded forest? If it's in a cave with narrow passageways, how are we even supposed to drive a vehicle out?"

 **"Oh, you'll be breaking out of the cave, Mr. Torchwick."**

 **"** And if we wake up the entirety of Beacon in the process?"

 **"Then they would be powerless to stop you."** Pyonn smirked.

"What else did you hide here?"

" **Do you recall news of an Atlas cargo train that was attacked while passing through Forever Fall?"**

"Yeah, perpetrated by none other than our friends, the White Fang."

 **"We've managed to contact the leader of the White Fang, striking the same deal we struck with you. Power in exchange for cooperation. Let me assure you, Mr. Torchwick, that this trip is worth the trouble."**

"Through here." One of the mercenaries waved as he entered a narrow passage.

Roman noticed that the walls were slimy and covered with moss. Slipping through, he found himself in an underground reservoir. There was a small lake in the middle with a beam of moonlight shining down from a hole in the ceiling. Beyond the lake were piles of crates with an odd P symbol on them, exactly what Penumbra had promised. Beside the crates, however, was a gift courtesy of the White Fang. It had a dark gray and red paint job. Four legs were located on its abdomen along with two arms on its upward oriented body. Four cannons were located on the end of each arm with two larger ones mounted on its shoulders. The robot suddenly sprang to life, forcing Torchwick to step back and aim his cane at the machine.

"Pyonn, what the hell is this?!" the distressed criminal shouted.

 **"Relax…"**

Roman noticed the distorted voice was coming from the robot in front of him. He stared at its glowing red eyes as it spoke up again.

 **"Meet the Spider Droid. I'm controlling it remotely."**

"Of course you are…" Roman slowly lowered his cane.

* * *

Sable shifted as he felt the cold, hard ground rub up against his aching body. His face felt heavy and he was sure one of the lenses on his glasses was cracked. How'd they even stay on after all this? The archer shifted his attention towards the two men guarding him, their black armor gleaming in the moonlight. He tried to move but his hands and feet were bound tightly. No sign of Final Whisper anywhere as well. The boy snickered.

"Hey, he's awake," One of the men told the other.

"Ya want me to fix that?" The mercenary approached the bound archer.

Sable's laughter got louder and louder.

"Creepy little bastard, ain't ya?" The man pulled out a handkerchief from his right pocket. "We're gonna need ya to shut up or the Grimm'll come."

"Oh, I assure you…" Sable tilted his head so that he was staring his captor straight in the eyes. "The Grimm are the least of your concerns."

He didn't have time to say any other words, however. His mouth was immediately sealed shut as the man's handkerchief wrapped around Sable's mouth. He grunted and squirmed but to no avail.

Both of the men laughed. "Not so tough now are ya?"

* * *

"Those guys…" Brand muttered as he and the rest of his team hid behind a couple of trees. Unfortunately, the trees were far away since the area the assailants were guarding was free of any foliage. They watched two men wrap a cloth around Sable's mouth. Behind them was a cave, probably where the rest of their team was located. However, Brand never expected they were up against the same people who tried to kill their friends back in Vale.

"Aren't those the assassin guys?" Mond asked.

"Yep," Blue replied. "They fit the description perfectly."

Melo couldn't believe it. Again they had to interfere with his life. At first, he was startled that Penumbra had made their way to Vale but after learning that their contract was on Malko, he thought that they would be gone if their mission failed. ' _So why the hell are they in Forever Fall?!'_

"Alright, there's no use in us just watching. We need to do something," his leader suddenly said.

"There are just two of them. Shouldn't be too hard to take down," the squirrel boy suggested.

"Yes, but that armor is modified Atlas Military armor. Basically acts as a second layer of aura," Melo explained. He noticed that the two other members gave him a look, wondering how he knew this. He just had to play it off. "Also, according to the files back at Beacon, they have weapons that can penetrate your aura with one hit."

"Right. I forgot." Brand glanced back at his partner. He had stopped struggling. "Wait…"

The other two faced their leader.

"Can they penetrate my aura?"

The bomber raised an eyebrow. "What? Of course they can."

"But my semblance regenerates my aura at a rapid rate so as long as I keep regenerating, I should be fine."

"Brand, that's crazy!" Melo silently yelled.

"Relax. I won't be taking hits the whole time, just enough to distract them away from Sable. That's when you and Mond strike," Blue said. "Now, Mond, you position yourself on top of a nearby tree and get ready to pounce. Melo, you just use the shadows to your advantage. Once I give the signal, that's when we attack."

"Right." The bomber immediately disappeared into the shade of the trees.

"Roger." Mond saluted before jumping up the tree.

The leader of team BLUS exhaled and prepared himself for what was to come.

"Hey, Brand?"

He looked up to the squirrel boy who was perched up on the tree.

"Be careful."

Blue smiled and nodded. He was about to walk up to two members of a criminal organization with bullets that can kill people with one shot and ask them how their day was going. No pressure.

* * *

"Hey!" The mercenary raised his rifle at the approaching boy clad in blue. His partner followed suit.

"That's far enough, kid."

Brand raised his arms. "Alright."

 _'Brand?!'_ Sable's raged died down a little.

"So you're the one who's been following us, eh? I thought Pyonn mentioned there were more of ya."

"Oh, yes there are. They're off to get help."

The men stepped forward. "What did you say?"

"They left a while ago. A team of teachers should be on their way as we speak," Brand lied. The two men primed up their rifles before he spoke again. "Wait! Kill me and I can assure you, you won't escape this forest alive."

"We'd end up dead anyway. Besides, we only need one hostage." He gestured towards Sable. "Tell ya what, kid."

One of the mercenaries put down his rifle and pulled out the handgun located on the holster hanging on the left side of his waist. With one swift motion, he pointed the gun at the archer's head.

"One of you lives and becomes our bargaining chip in the event we get caught and one of you bites the dust. Sure we could just kill you, but our little toy here is a bit broken and honestly, we'd prefer it if you'd come with us." The handgun glowed green as it emitted a soft beep. The other man also took out his handgun and pointed it at Brand. "You choose, Blue."

The leader froze. _'Damn it all. The goal was to get their attention away from Sable. If I give the signal now, they'd shoot for sure. I'd survive, but Sable definitely wouldn't. Even if we'd manage to execute a perfectly timed attack, the gun is way too close to Sable for us to reach him in time.'_

"Five seconds or your friend here dies!"

"Okay!" Brand shouted. _'No choice.'_

"Shoot me."

 _'Brand!'_ Sable squirmed and tried to break free.

"You're a brave kid." The man pointed his gun away from the archer.

Blue heard a gunshot before feeling a pain in his chest. The bullet knocked him back onto the ground.

"But brave don't mean smart." Turning around, the mercenary tapped his partner on the shoulder. "Grab the other one. We gotta tell Torchwick that we've been found."

Before the other man could pick up Sable, he stared at Brand's body which was slowly rising up. "W-what the hell?!"

Blue aura surrounded the boy as he got back up on his feet. His breaths were heavy and his eyes were focused on the two attackers. "Now!"

Mond immediately shot out of the tree and hit one of the mercenaries in the chest with his fists, knocking him into the wall of the cave's entrance as rubble trickled down. Melo zipped up to the other man and delivered a swift upward slash with Final Whisper. He then kicked the assailant's legs and pinned him on the ground, his neck in between the blades.

Brand immediately ran to his partner who lay on the ground. He undid the knot around Sable's mouth before the archer spoke.

"Knife in my pocket."

Blue reached into his pocket inside the brown suit he wore and took out a butterfly knife. He noticed the letter L printed on the black handles. Without hesitating, he began to cut the ropes on Sable's wrists and ankles.

"This thing's in horrible condition. You should have me patch it up some time," Brand said.

His partner chuckled. "You think I'd trust you with my brother's knife?"

Blue paused a bit before continuing. "Yeah, right. Sorry."

Sable stood up and adjusted his broken glasses. "It's fine, Blue. I guess I could let you sharpen it a bit. As long as I'm there of course."

Brand smiled and turned around. "Okay, we got what we came for. Let's just head back to the trap and-"

"Oh no," Melo interrupted. "We are not spending another minute in the forest."

"Fine." The leader pouted. "We should at least gather the chess piece along with our belongings before we head back. Then we sneak back over the wall and pretend this entire trip never happened."

All of a sudden, they heard laughter erupt from behind them. The mercenary was struggling to get out of Final Whisper's blades. "You think this is over?!"

"Maybe I should dig those blades deeper into the dirt…" Sable pulled up his sleeves and approached the man.

"Sable." Brand stopped his partner. "Mond, knock him out and hand the bow to Sable."

"Gladly." The squirrel boy cracked his knuckles

However, before they could do anything, the ground started rumbling. The cave in front of them started to collapse until the entrance was completely covered in rubble and boulders. More and more explosions emanated from within before a bright laser shot out from the top. Out came a giant Spider Droid that trampled its way towards team BLUS.

"Never mind. Just run!" Brand ran to the trapped mercenary and pulled the bow from the ground before kicking the guy in the face. "Sable!"

With one swift motion, the archer caught his weapon. "I left my quiver back at the tree!"

"Well, let's go then." Melo had started making his way to the area where they had set up the trap.

* * *

"Pyonn!" Torchwick was holding onto the Spider Droid with a deathly grip. "Why are we headed towards the school?!"

 **"Sorry, Mr. Torchwick, change of plans. You may step off the droid for a moment if you prefer. I can just pick you up."**

The other Penumbra members were calmly holding onto the Droid as if this were a routine mission. Roman noticed that the sun had started to rise as well which would mean Grimm would be more common. As of now, he had no choice but to cling to the robotic death machine that was risking his life to kill a couple of kids. Well, he knew first-hand how annoying they could be.

* * *

Melo led the charge as the team made their way back to the big tree. However, they didn't make it too far. The Spider Droid was far too fast and managed to cut them off. The four teens stood face to face with the robot as the men from the sides dropped down and pointed their guns at the boys. Roman dropped off and twirled his cane.

"Wait, isn't that Roman Torchwick?" Brand whispered to Sable.

"Looks like it." The archer held the blade in his hands with a vengeance.

"Look, I'd let you boys go..." the criminal said. "…but apparently you've made someone angry."

 **"Hello, hello, Melo!"** the Droid greeted.

"Did the robot just talk?" Mond asked. "And how does it know you?"

"Alright! I get it!" Melo had enough. "You've proven your point now just go and take your stuff and we won't cause any problems!"

They were then met with a disturbing, distorted laugh. **"Are you really going to risk your life for these people, Melo? Do you think they're your friends?"**

The bomber gritted his teeth.

 **"Tell me, 'friends' of Melo. Did he ever tell you that he was one of us?"**

The rest of BLUS felt a sharp chill down their spine. Even Sable had a look of horror on his face. Melo met his gaze and at that moment; he knew he lost them. Everything they've been through, ruined by one chance encounter with his past. He wanted to run away again, but this time, hide and never show his face to anyone ever again. He had failed his family, he had failed his team. He had failed his friends.

"So what?" Brand retaliated. "Let me guess, he saw what he was doing was wrong and he ran away. Now, you want him to either go back to you or die. Am I right?"

 **"Huh… you'd actually accept this misfit? This boy killed more people than you can imagine."**

"Melo!" Blue called out. "Is this true?!"

"Yes…" The bomber held his head down. "That's why I ran away."

To his surprise Brand turned around and smiled. "Then what's the problem then?"

"Huh?"

"The past is the past, Melo. We're all running away from something. The mistakes we all make, however…" He then turned around to face the Spider Droid. "…we forget to face those demons in the end. But we don't have to face them alone."

"Yeah, all for one and stuff!" Mond readied his claws.

Sable just sighed and held his old friend on the shoulder. "You have no idea how much I'm trying to control myself right now. But you've done more for me than I could ever ask for. I don't care if you were part of them. You're not anymore."

Melo felt tears forming in his eyes. He quickly wiped them off and shouted at the Droid. "You have your answer, Pyonn!"

 **"Well…"** The blasters on the Droid started lighting up. **"…this is an unfortunate turn of events. We'll have to bring you back in a body bag then."**

The Spider Droid fired its blasters covering a wide range. Team BLUS split into two, strafing to the sides trying to get around the robot. The three mercenaries followed their movements with their rifles.

Melo dashed through the shadows as Mond jumped from tree to tree, drawing the Spider Droid's fire long enough to lead it away from the other two team members who were dealing with the mercenaries.

Brand charged forward as he connected both halves of Cobalt Ravager and spun it around. Luckily, it seemed the rifles they were using contained normal fire dust bullets. He took in the initial spray of fire before stunning both of them with his shotgun bursts. Sable immediately sprang into action with Final Whisper. He managed to land a single slash downward and kicked the man to his right. Brand followed up with a blast right in the third man's face and landed his blades on the second one. The two exchanged blows as they fought back and forth, Brand blocking any bullets that might hit Sable.

All of a sudden, Sable was knocked back by a fire blast. Roman Torchwick held his cane high as he chuckled. "Why is it that I always get myself into these situations? Not that I'm complaining. I mean children are much easier to kill than huntsmen!"

He was about to fire again when Brand split his axes and parried the cane. "You wanna bet?"

Roman adjusted his bowler hat and clicked his tongue.

* * *

Melo jumped out of the shadows and threw two fire bombs at the droid. However, the blasts only grazed its tough skin. Mond launched himself at the robot and managed to knock it over. However, its legs twisted and turned until it adjusted itself back up again.

 **"This is Atlas grade equipment! You'll need to hit harder than that!"**

Another wave of blasts scattered the pair around the brush. The squirrel boy leaned against a tree and caught his breath. His feet started to ache because of all the force he'd been applying to them. Adjusting the bandages around his legs, he spotted Melo still dodging and weaving around the Droid's attacks. It was already bright so the red leaves of Forever Fall glowed bright. Blast after blast, trees fell as the area around them started to become a plane deprived of shadows. Melo found himself cornered as he stood in the center of a deforested area.

 **"Checkmate."** The Spider Droid combined all four of its canons and charged up a powerful shot.

The bomber instinctively charged up ice dust in both of his hands. The dust bomb grew bigger and bigger as he rolled it back and forth. It was then that the droid released the blast. The laser immediately collided with Melo's hands as he released the ice, forming a shield in front of him. He pushed back for his life but felt his legs giving way.

"Hey, metalhead!" Mond launched himself into the Spider Droid and kicked the blaster away with both of his feet. The canon malfunctioned and exploded, taking the rest of the droid with it. What was left stumbled away with ice all over it and slumped down, smoke exiting the debris. The squirrel boy dropped the ground, unable to stand up.

"Mond!" Melo ran to his partner.

"I'm okay, Mels." Mond said as the bomber lifted his head up. "This just happens when I use too much force on my legs."

He pointed at the bandages on his legs. Melo shook his head and lifted the faunus up and carried him with his shoulders.

"We're lucky that took him out in one shot. Never strain yourself like that again."

The squirrel boy chuckled. "No promises."

* * *

Brand and Torchwick exchanged blows as the fight went on. Sable had managed to get back up and was slashing away at the other three men. Managing to find an opening, Brand swiped Roman's cane to the right and delivered a shotgun blast to his chest, making him stumble back. The criminal grunted and fired a blast at Brand who gave no reaction. He stepped forward and pointed both of his axes at Torchwick.

"It's over, Torchwick. We'll have the Beacon guard here in a few minutes."

Roman chuckled. "Not if we have our backup here first."

Blue felt a gust of wind as the sound of helicopter propellers was heard above.

"Oh and you might want to stop your friend." He pointed to the side where Sable was repeatedly stabbing away at one of the men's aura.

"Oh no. Wait! Sable!" Brand rushed to his partner and pulled him back just as the mercenary's aura broke.

"Let me go, Blue!" The archer struggled in the arms of his much taller leader.

"Sable, calm!"

"Calm my ass!" Sable managed to break free with a grin on his face. "They don't deserve to live!"

Before he could move, however, he felt a sharp pain as his partner slapped him across the face. The archer looked him in the eyes. He had stopped hearing the voice of his brother somehow.

"What kind of guy slaps-"

A round of laughter interrupted them as they saw that Roman and the rest of the men were on a possibly hijacked bullhead hovering right over the tree line. Inside the vehicle, crates with the Penumbra mark filled the back.

"Good luck next time, boys!" Torchwick waved as the chopper began to rise.

Melo and Mond joined the rest of their team as they watched the criminals escape. The bomber in particular managed to spot a woman cloaked in black giving him a cold stare. He narrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. She's here now…

"Well…" Brand scratched his head. "Shall we head back?"

"Yeah, I'm beat!" The squirrel boy said as he sat on the ground with his legs crossed. He sniffed himself and retorted. "Plus I could use a bath."

"We all do." Blue glanced at his partner who was staring at the sky where the bullhead once was. "Sable."

"I'm fine. I know I lost control again but…" The archer turned around. "We aren't just going to let this go, are we?"

"Let what go?"

Sable pointed at the bomber who was adjusting his gloves. "I know I said I don't care if you were part of Penumbra but that was just in the heat of the moment. I'm not mad that you were one of them, I'm mad because you never told me."

Melo looked down. "I… I was afraid you would hate me."

The archer's eyes widened.

"When I first met you at the orphanage, Sable, you were nice… sorta. Most of the kids told me to avoid you because you were weird but I'm glad I decided to ignore them. You were the friend I needed after all the crap I've been through. When I learned about your brother, my heart sank. I thought that if you knew the truth, you'd despise me…"

"Were you involved with killing my brother in any way?" Sable asked.

The bomber looked up and shook his head. "I was away from Vacuo during that mission. Besides, you two attacked a well-known Penumbra outpost. It was easy for them to deploy an airstrike."

The archer felt his blood boil as he tried to control himself. "I'm not going to say you're off the hook but… I'll try my best to see you as a friend again. Let's just go before this turns into a soap opera."

Sable walked past Melo who stood there, frozen. Had he just lost his longest friend?

"Melo." Brand put his hand on the bomber's shoulder. "We'll patch this up, eventually. Just no more secrets okay?"

Melo silently nodded.

"Alright, let's get our stuff and head back to Beacon. We should've set of some alarms already with that big fight. Mond, can you walk?"

"Yup!" Mond quickly stood up and raised his fist before stumbling backwards. "Okay, maybe a little bit of a limp but that should heal quickly."

* * *

Brand examined the center of the pond where pieces of wood and torn rubber scattered the water. Something had triggered the trap. Standing up, he stomped his foot in the water.

"Damn it! Should've set up security cameras or something."

"Maybe it wasn't the boss Grimm? It could've been some thief." Sable suggested. "Pretty sure criminals are common now in Forever Fall."

"Yeah but our stuff is still secure on the tree." Blue sighed.

"Hey, we'll get him next time." The archer handed his leader the travel pack he was holding.

"There won't be a next time. Professor Oobleck's gonna kill me when he finds out I lost one of the artifacts."

"We're ready to go." Mond approached them with a still silent Melo behind him.

Team BLUS proceeded to make their way back to their dorms after a long, sleepless night. They did not, however, notice the tall Grimm watching them from a distance. In its hand, a gold rook rested.

* * *

 _"At this point, everything looked as if it was moving in slow motion. The only thing I could see was the cold hard ground slowly getting closer. The only thing I could hear was the ringing in my ears. I couldn't feel anything even as my body hit the ground._

 _When feeling returned to my body, I looked up and saw fire. The only things left of in the warehouse were bits and piece of metal and fire. I could do nothing as the tears fell involuntarily when the realization hit me. He's dead._

 _I cried and cried as the inferno raged. I could hear shuffling of the remaining soldiers surrounding me but I didn't care. At that point I was ready to give up anyway. Then something inside me snapped._

 _Kill. The tears were slowing down and my sobs were becoming quieter._

 _Kill. I don't know why but my face started twitching as I got the sudden urge to smile._

 _Kill. Out of nowhere, the sobs turned into chuckling, and then slowly turned into full-blown laughter._

 _KILL! KILL! KILL! IT'S THEIR FAULT! KILL THEM ALL!"_

Sable read from his journal. Writing always helped him focus his anger into a form that did not harm anyone around him. You can be damn sure that he had a lot more to jot down as soon as they get back to their room.

"There's the wall." Brand looked up at the tall wall separating Beacon from the forest of Forever Fall. To his surprise, there were no guards patrolling the area. "Where are they?"

"Must be on break?" Mond assumed.

BLUS made their way to the main gate which was also left unguarded.

"Hello?" Brand called out. "Melo, you mind opening the gate?"

"Sure thing." The bomber slipped into the shadows between the cracks and found the gate control button. After closing the entrance behind them, the four teens were met with the courtyard which had a few craters and rubble scattered around.

"What the hell happened here?" Sable chuckled. "Looks like someone had just as much fun as us."

Brand scanned the area and spotted two figures leaning against the fountain. "This way!"

Meroch was embracing Ace as her face was buried in his chest. The two of them rested on the grass as they sat there quietly enjoying each other's comfort.

"Meroch?" Brand along with the rest of his team approached the two. "What the hell happened here?"

The boy in question raised his head. "It's… it's a long story."

* * *

 _ **A/N: I know the delay for this chapter was a long one and I apologize for that. School stuff as always and the fact that I have a backlog of games I need to finish. Interest in RWBY has also diminished among my friends and I but don't worry. I'm sure when Volume 5 hits, we'll all be hyped for more DoAF. As alluded by the ending of this chapter, the next two will focus on what happened during team BLUS' adventure through Forever Fall.**_

 _ **If you've noticed a pattern from the two parters so far (technically BLUS had a three parter), the next one will be about team GAMA which, for me, is the hardest to write for. I'll try to finish Fire Emblem Fates as fast as possible before Fire Emblem Warriors comes out and hopefully we'll be able to post the next chapter. Thank ya'll for reading this far!**_


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